


Loving You Is A Losing Game

by tortoise_swan



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Canon-Typical Violence, Crazy Azula (Avatar), Dubious Consent, F/F, F/M, Fake Dating, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Opposites Attract, Sokka has anxiety, Torture, Toxic Relationship, Toxic and Dubious consent not with zukka!, Underage Drinking, but she a baddie for awhile, way later on azula might change, we love redemption, zuko is on the spectrum
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:47:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 42,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26276647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tortoise_swan/pseuds/tortoise_swan
Summary: His soulmate was a prisoner to the fire nation and he never hated fire benders more.Or in which Sokka grows up feeling all of the pain that Zuko feels and is massively mislead in which side his soulmate is on.Alternatively; both Sokka and Zuko can feel each others pain, with the scars to prove it, but even knowing this they know they cannot be together even if they wanted to.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Katara & Sokka & Suki & Yue (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Jet/Zuko (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 172
Kudos: 796





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Warning this is my first attempt at literally writing any fanfic, but I had an idea and the Alta resonance has brought back the obsession in me. BETA reading done by oveath-shouyyou on tumblr and a close friend as well! I hope you enjoy it :)

Sokka had been young the first time he heard about soulmates. It was brought up in almost every story he had heard as a kid. Two people destined to be together, intertwined in every way possible. Everyone knew that you had one, whether you ended up with them or not. It wasn’t until he was ten that he actually believed he had one, it was definitely noticeable when you felt your shoulder burn. In the snow. With no fire in sight. Of course he panicked at first, this was nothing like the stories he had heard. He never heard of burns. He ran home, his little legs almost tripping over the piles of snow, abandoning the penguins he had been chasing. Grangran rubbed burn cream onto his warm shoulder in a soothing manner, (they barely had enough burn cream in the first place, who got burned in the north pole?) explaining gently the entire time that his soulmate was fine, it was most likely a small accident. Like pressing your hand on a hot tea kettle or stepping too close to the fire. But, Sokka felt like something was wrong, something wasn’t right. He just didn’t know what.

It was hard to shake off the wrong feeling, especially since he knew the damage the fire nation could cause. His own mother had lost her life to them, they only brought destruction and pain, he was sure of it. His soulmate had to know this, especially with the pain he must’ve felt when Sokka lost his mom. His soulmate had to know the anxiety of worrying about being attacked 24/7 as Sokka feared for Katara almost everyday; waterbenders and firebenders just didn’t mix well. 

It wasn’t just the burn that Sokka felt at ten. He could never explain it well, but it felt like he lost his mom all over again. It happened in the middle of the night, waking up in some sort of pain, but no marks could be found on him. Instead he felt lost and scared, even confused. The days after only got worse, like his soulmate was looking for someone only to never find them again. That was when Sokka realized it was different than losing his mom. She was never coming back, but his soulmate seemed unsure about someone, not lost, but a feeling of uncertainty always looming. 

After that Sokka slowly started to realize things about his soulmate, they were emotional and embarrassed easily. He’d feel the weight of shame every now and then, and it only got worse as he got older. He also noticed the frequent cuts and burns he’d get daily. As if it was some sort of routine. Sometimes he didn’t get either, sometimes he only got one of the two, and some days it was a mix of both. It was never in the same place more than twice as if his soulmate learned by the third time. This was when Sokka began to think the fire nation had his soulmate.

The fire nation had taken his mom, hell half the village was gone to fight; including his dad. He missed his dad more and more everyday, but Sokka knew it was needed. One day he’d fight too and he was okay with that. But, Katara, she was just a little girl, just his little sister. And yet she had so much responsibility on her hands with her waterbending, she had so much danger always looming around her by being a bender and she didn’t even know it. But now, they had taken his soulmate. His soulmate was hurt in some way almost everyday and Sokka could do nothing about it, would he ever even meet his soulmate if they were captive? 

By the time Sokka was twelve he was used to the emotional outbursts and the small burns. But, he never expected a burn like the one he received when Grangran was telling a tragic tale of two lost soulmates. It happened quickly, no build up before he was screaming. Unlike the other burns this one seemed to last forever and he could barely breathe. The left side of his face felt like he might die. The tale was stopped instantly and the rest of the kids were pushed out of the room, only Grangran left to comfort him. There was nothing she could do, nothing to stop the pain. Nothing to save his soulmate. 

The entire time all Sokka could think about was what if his soulmate died? Cause this surely felt like dying, they weren’t dying were they? There were tragedies told of lost soulmates, soulmates that never got to meet before one of them was gone forever. Until now Sokka had thought that was just a tale to scare children, but now he believed them. What would happen if his soulmate died? He wouldn’t have been able to meet them, he wouldn’t have been able to feel real love, and he wouldn’t have been able to save them. That thought alone felt more painful than any burning he could ever experience.

Sokka had been in and out of consciousness for the next few hours that day. Every time he woke up feeling both physical pain and emotional, as if he was just thrown out of his own home. He tried not to think about what that meant.

One thing was certain; his soulmate was burned in the left side of his face, his eyebrow was even gone. Sokka knew this because when he looked into the mirror the next day he almost screamed. This was worse than any of the other burns he had ever gotten. An ugly red scar ran across the left side of his face, over his eye, only one eyebrow left. 

Katara tried to comfort him by saying the scar was badass, which Sokka laughed at and agreed. He even went as far as to say Katara’s soulmate would never be as cool as his. At night he’d run his hand against the left side of his face, anger and sadness consuming him to the point where he did not even know if he ever really slept. 

Despite having a huge scar on his face Sokka did worry that his soulmate might’ve actually died, but was quickly relieved when he felt the familiar wave of emotions wash over him often. 

He’d even received a few more burns after. Only a few. Before burns weren’t as common anymore. Maybe the last burn was the main event; maybe that was a punishment to last a lifetime, he hoped it was. 

On bad days, the days where Sokka felt like he could barely move he’d force himself out of bed and go chase the penguins. If he could do anything, anything at all to help his soulmate he would. When he felt the shame and sadness consume him he’d ride on the penguin's backs, sliding down the hill in an attempt to make his soulmate feel even an inch of his happiness. 

His soulmate was a prisoner to the fire nation and he never hated fire benders more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has learned that it's best to ignore his soulmate. 
> 
> Zuko never wants to meet his soulmate.
> 
> His soulmate is from the North or South Pole after all.
> 
> He'd have to kill them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I can't believe the attention this has gotten in such a short time, I'm in shock honestly. BUT, I'm grateful and I'm happy ya'll like it!! Again this was BETA read by both my close friend (mccromy on tumblr) and oveath-shouyyo on tumblr. I hope you like it!

Zuko was cold again. This time he had no idea if it was from the arctic weather or from his soulmate.

It was probably a mix of both. Of course he had a soulmate; everyone did, even someone as unlucky as him. It was hard to ignore when they seemed to always be cold, when they must’ve lost someone close, when they worried all day, and most importantly; when they were in a good mood more often than not. 

What annoyed Zuko the most was his soulmate's moods and by moods he meant the overwhelming joy. They got to joke around and have fun; Zuko didn’t get to joke. It was nice as a child, but now Zuko was thirteen and had only provided negative emotions and even injuries for his soulmate. Did he ever provide a pleasant emotion? He couldn’t even imagine how his soulmate felt when he got burnt. Did they have the same scars as him? His soulmate should’ve hated him by now, they most likely would never even meet. That fact was backed up by the obvious detail that his soulmate probably lived in the north or south pole. Zuko tried to keep this to himself, tried to ignore the cold when it obviously was not cold for anyone else around him on a hot summer day. It would just be another thing to dishonor him. As much as Zuko wanted to see who his soulmate really was, he would rather they never even met. If they did ever meet; it would be on opposite sides. He couldn’t do that, so he tried to ignore the fact that he even had a soulmate.

It was difficult when Azula had teased him about it his entire childhood, “Dad’s gonna kill you and your penguin of a soulmate” Azule sang, her hand making a straight line across her neck.

“How does it feel to know you’re gonna have to kill your soulmate, Zuzu?”

Azula wasn’t dumb. She was manipulative and smart for her age; she was the first to notice Zuko’s constant coldness. It was always a taunt, always a threat. It got even worse when their Mom was gone. For all of the threats none of them actually went through though, so at least his Father had no clue. Zuko was a disgrace, but not for that reason and he’d like to keep it that way.

He wondered if she even had a soulmate.

Iroh was the second to notice. It was the second day on the ship, Zuko staying in his bed for the majority of the day. Just the day before he had been so determined to gain his honor back, bossing around workers even in his still injured state. But, something was wrong this time and he wasn’t exactly sure what.

Although his soulmate was mostly a happy person, there were bad days. Days when anxiety consumed him, as if he was afraid something would be taken away from him. Which only made Zuko think his soulmate was from an enemy territory. The fire nation had taken things from people; even he knew that. If his soulmate had gone this long with something intact, well, his worry would be even greater. It made sense though Zuko had no idea exactly what his soulmate was worried about. 

The anxiety ruined his day. Zuko tried to get out of bed, tried to eat some sort of breakfast, but it only came back up a few minutes later. His stomach felt like it was filled with lead. It didn’t help that his soulmate must’ve felt his most recent burn, the one right on his face. That most likely brought on this mood; it was a vicious cycle. 

The rest of the day went exactly like the morning had. Zuko laid in bed, curled in every blanket he had, clutching his stomach nervously as the anxiety just didn’t seem to calm down. He felt like he had to do something, protect something, but it was just far too cold for him to even move. He should’ve been used to the odd temperatures by now, but he wasn't.

Iroh had arrived with more blankets and some tea that his uncle swore was, ‘The best jasmine tea created,’ Zuko had taken both, but the tea didn’t stay down; as expected. 

“Sometimes the world wants us to be with people we can’t,” his words came out in the typical Iroh fashion, as if he was telling some valuable information. Zuko had opened his mouth to protest, to say he had no idea what he was talking about, But Iroh put up his finger in a halting gesture.

“It is not difficult to figure out the kind of person the world wants you to be with, so for your protection it might be best to hide it better,” Iroh hadn’t come to lecture him, of course not, he was offering a solution.

That was the first day Zuko had learned how to heat himself up. It was late; he had always been a late bloomer. It wasn’t as if heating your body up was his Father’s first priority anyway. That was also the last day Zuko let the cold get to him like that.

Iroh never mentioned it again after that.

It was best Zuko didn’t think of his soulmate, although it was hard. Every time he hurt himself training he thought of the other, every time the anxiety got worse he thought of them, every time he felt them miss two different people; one lost, one just away, he thought of them, and when he had to heat himself up, grateful for being a bender.

Zuko took another deep breath, warming himself up more as the arctic air made his skin crawl. He only hoped he wouldn’t run into his soulmate here.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A boy is found in an iceburg.
> 
> Zuko's soulmate is being so moody that it's making commanding the ship towards a beam in the sky difficult.
> 
> Sokka is ready to fight.
> 
> Zuko is ready to gain his honor back.
> 
> Neither of them expected to find their soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks to my BETA readers as always (oveath-shouyyo & mccromy on tumblr).   
> And a thanks to my editor now, hopefully my awful grammar is at least slightly better now! (fishfynns on tumblr)

Lately Sokka couldn’t feel his soulmate as often. He could feel a desperate need to find something, a distant feeling that he couldn’t quite understand, but at least there seemed to be less burns. Random bursts of sadness were also now less common, though not entirely nonexistent. The main difference was they were not constant and only lasted for a few moments before the feeling of needing something came back. As if Sokka’s soulmate had lost something, but what did he lose, what were they trying to gain? Those questions ran through his mind these days.

Life went on though, as it always did. What was different now was the fact that he was staring at a bald child  _ who just came out of an iceberg.  _ Katara had been so excited about the mystery boy, which only worried Sokka more. An outsider, an Airbender? Weren’t those all gone? How did this boy survive in an iceberg? And what the hell was a sky bison? Why did the bison, apparently named Appa, never stop licking him. Something was off and it didn’t take a genius to figure that out, but Katara was so excited all Sokka could do was watch and wait. 

Waiting only annoyed Sokka though. All of the kids loved this mystery boy, who said his name was Aang, even his soldiers listened to Aang over Sokka! Everyone liked Aang, which only made it worse. The kid was likeable and all, but something was just  _ off _ and no one believed him. 

Sokka usually felt eaten away by anxiety, but today he was being consumed by it. The village seemed so careless; it was the perfect time for a fire nation ship to attack them. They had to always be on their guard, why was everyone suddenly so relaxed when a bald headed jokester showed up? What could he offer them? Would Aang be the reason Katara was harmed? What if Aang drew attention towards the village, what would happen to Katara? 

Katara was annoying and persistent with her water bending, but she was his little sister. If she had been hurt or taken, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Sokka already lost his Mom and he barely ever saw his Dad, without Katara who else was left besides k Gran-gran? 

If Katara was gone, his Dad would have to come back to one less child. It was cruel and Sokka would do everything in his power to prevent that from happening. But no one else seemed to care right now or no one else could see it at least. They were still in a war, how could they forget that?

It wasn’t until a sudden loud noise exploded into the air that everyone seemed to remember that fact; the fact that they were still in a war. It was obvious what it was, but not the cause, not until Katara and Aang came running back to the village. They had set off an old fire nation ship trap, with a flare. If there were any fire nation ships actually active around this area the village was doomed. 

Sokka was furious that now everyone was in grave danger all because of some strange kid in an iceberg. Why did it have to be them? Why did Katara have to find him? Sokka was even more furious when Katara had almost chosen Aang over her family, why was he suddenly better than them? And why did it take Aang to make Katara stay? Aang was gone within ten minutes; Sokka was glad.

The village was not in the clear yet though; a fire nation ship was coming, he was sure of it. Sokka could see the smoke, could hear the water beneath the surely huge war ship. It was finally time for him to prove himself, for him to be a warrior just like his Dad. 

Much to Sokka’s dismay Aang came back to the village, a look of panic on his face as he explained a fire nation ship was heading towards the village. Of course it was, all because of him. How dare the baldy come back?

The day just kept getting worse when Aang admitted he was the Avatar. If the fire nation found him would this war never end? It had already lasted 100 years, was he their only chance? Aang was hidden within seconds and Sokka was ready to fight, war paint all across his face. 

Sokka felt ready, but he’d never be ready for what he’d see next, for who he would meet.

  
  


* * *

Why did his soulmate have to pick today to be so goddamn moody? It was easier to ignore his soulmate when their moods were consistently the same nowadays; worry and joy, that was it. But today, today seemed to be different. They were annoyed, worried, angry, and even scared. As the emotions kept changing Zuko hoped that it had nothing to do with the fact that his crew was going towards an area where a beam of light suddenly shined in the middle of the goddamn day. 

It was unlikely that it had anything to do with his soulmate, just because his soulmate was always cold didn’t mean that they were here exactly. Or he hoped. Besides this was his chance, he knew it. Just a day early his whole crew had seen a blinding light in the sky, which Zuko was sure was the Avatar. Ignoring the grumbles and arguments, even ignoring his uncle’s carefree attitude he switched the ship's plans, making sure that the ship went towards the direction of whatever that light was.

At first it seemed hopeless and Zuko was sure he had been too eager, but just as he was about to tell the crew to turn around he saw it; one of their flares, bright and loud. They had no ships out here, that much Zuko knew. They should be the only fire nation ship within miles of this place, someone must’ve set up an old one, that was the only thing it could possibly be. If someone was there, what if they were the Avatar? 

Zuko was going to get his honor back and not even his soulmate's sour mood could stop that.

A village was spotted almost immediately and Zuko just knew that they were hiding the Avatar somehow. The village was out in the middle of nowhere, maybe this was where he had been hiding all these years? 

Zuko’s helmet was on within minutes, completely ready for whatever fight he had to face. A huge rumble could be heard throughout his ship, which only meant one thing; they had arrived. Zuko walked out into the open, seeing a crowd of frightened water tribe people, half of them were children, which really didn’t help his own case. Zuko was about to speak as he walked down the ramp, but immediately was met with a screaming water tribe boy, face covered in paint as he swung a...bended knife, incomplete triangle, actually what even was that thing? He was kicked onto the ground within seconds.

As soon as the boy had hit the ground Zuko stopped in his tracks, something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. He winced at the direct pain, sudden, without warning it felt like he had just fallen on his head, which made absolutely no sense. But as he turned his attention back towards the water tribe boy his eyes went wide, that very same boy was holding onto his head in pain; he had fallen on his head.

There was no way, no Zuko would not accept it. Zuko had been terrified of the thought of his soulmate being from the water tribe, but now it somehow was even worse. Was this boy helping the Avatar? Even with the Avatar and water tribe aside; his soulmate was a boy. Nobles never had male partners, at least not known to the public. All Zuko had heard about same sex relationships was that they just simply weren’t allowed in the fire nation. Some lower class people had them, but it was looked down upon and they all usually ended up marrying a woman anyway; it wasn’t like they were allowed to get married. Why, why out of all people to be his soulmate did it have to be  _ this _ boy?

As much as he wanted this to not be true it became more apparent as the boy stared back at him, obviously feeling some sort of distress, which Zuko only guessed was from himself. Zuko could feel the boy's confusion, the anger, the rage, which didn’t exactly make Zuko feel any better at all.

Zuko wanted to run away right then and there. He wanted to crawl under his blankets and disappear from the world, but the Avatar was here, he knew it. Zuko needed his honor back; he needed to be allowed back home. 

After that the rest of the events that followed only put Zuko through more of an emotional rollercoaster. He had found the Avatar, but he was only a child, how was that possible? Zuko was even led to believe that he had captured the Avatar, but that very same boy and some water tribe girl had shown up, aiding in the young boy’s escape. His soulmate wasn’t just in the same tribe that was hiding the Avatar, his soulmate was directly helping the Avatar. 

It felt like a stab to the gut. The whole day felt like one giant betrayal, did the universe really hate him this much? Azula was right; he’d have to kill his own soulmate.

Zuko wasn’t ready, but he had never been ready for anything.

* * *

Sokka’s soulmate wasn’t a fire nation prisoner, no! He was the goddamn prince of the fire nation. As far as Sokka was concerned the teen had been personally responsible for his mom’s death and his dad putting his life on the line everyday. 

He didn’t want to believe it, but as he had stared at that familiar scar underneath the teen’s helmet it was almost undeniable. The scar looked exactly like the one who had received it on his own face, although it did go away after a few weeks; his soulmate’s would never go away. 

Sokka remembered being afraid that he’d have the big red ugly scar forever too, but Grangran had assured him that injuries only lasted for a few weeks at most from your soulmate if it was severe enough. Usually Sokka’s burns would go away within a day or two, so those few weeks had been nerve wracking. Until he woke up and saw it was completely gone, the only sign of it even existing was his nonexistent eyebrow. At first Sokka had felt relieved, but then the realization hit him; his soulmate would have to live with that scar. 

At least he’d know who his soulmate was right away if he ever saw them.

And he did, he knew right away. It hadn’t helped that he visibly witnessed the teen hold his own head in pain. It was set in stone at this point that the fire nation brat was his soulmate. 

When they had taken away Aang never before had Sokka felt so satisfied, he wanted his soulmate to pay. 

Sokka didn’t know it was possible to hate your soulmate, but now he knew it was definitely possible.

Sokka hated his soulmate and never wanted to see him again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suki taught Sokka many things, one of which was the different beliefs in soulmates.
> 
> Yue taught Sokka that there are different types of love.
> 
> And Aang won't stop saying the universe doesn't make mistakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to BETAS & my editor as always! <3
> 
> (if any of you want to talk to me on tumblr my user is trashuriee ! )

“Is Zuko your soulmate?” Aang broke the silence that had been looming uncomfortably for about an hour into the long ride away from home. 

“No,” Sokka grumbled, turning over to face the opposite way.

“Oh okay,” Aang said without any sort of indication that he didn’t believe Sokka.

“He’s lying,” Katara had her hands up, frustration clear in her voice.

“Am not!”

“Yes you are!”

“Maybe you’re a liar, huh, have you thought of that?”

“You know what, forget it!” Katara had given up, her hands thrown down onto her legs.

Aang said nothing. He knew when to stay silent, which was surprising to Sokka considering how obnoxious the boy had been a few days ago.  
“It’s not like I want him to be…” Sokka’s voice trailed off, mumbling as he lessened the tension.

“Maybe the universe made a mistake,” Katara said in a soothing voice despite that just a minute earlier she had been ready to throw Sokka off of the flying bison. 

“The universe doesn’t make mistakes,” Aang said this quickly, almost as if he hadn’t exactly even meant to say it in the first place.

“Guess you’re right,” was all Katara had said in response.

The rest of the ride was silent.

The trio decided not to mention it ever again, or at least not unless it was absolutely necessary. It put them all in a bad mood, except in Aang’s case, which was weird considering he should’ve been the one most worried, but it was best left in the back of their minds.

One night while laying in their sleeping bags, Aang had gotten up, most likely to relieve himself, but by the time Aang came back Sokka was up. He had been walking everywhere, worried that somehow Aang had been taken without their knowledge.

“Aren’t you worried about being out alone?” Sokka asked out of genuine curiosity, relief in his voice as he realized that the boy was completely fine.

“I need to pee sometime Sokka,” Aang had said this in a careless voice, walking back to camp with Sokka.

“Yeah I know, but…” His voice trailed off, but Zuko, his soulmate, what if he took Aang?

“Zuko?”

“Yeah, aren’t you worried?”

“I’m always a little worried, but not so much about him,” Aang said this matter of factly, as if they were discussing the weather and not some murderous Fire Nation Prince.

“Why?” Sokka was in genuine shock.

“The universe doesn’t make mistakes,”

Sokka had stuck out his tongue, rolling his eyes at the simple answer. No way was he ever going to fall for Zuko.

“Listen, I just think that if Zuko is actually your soulmate then he can’t be all that bad. Maybe he’ll help us someday, that would make sense,”

“He’s trying to kill you!”

“The universe-” he was cut off by an annoyed Sokka, throwing his hands in the air and stomping back to his sleeping bag.

The universe had made a mistake. Each day Sokka thought this more and more. It had been over a month since they had teamed up with Aang and it seemed that everyday was some sort of a reminder that the universe had, in fact, made a mistake. By the time the trio landed on Kyoshi Island Sokka had decided that soulmates were total bullshit. Sokka had always been a science man anyway, what about science said there was such a thing as soulmates? 

When Sokka had met Suki he was even more sure that soulmates were absolutely an old wives tale. It wasn’t just the fact that she was so fierce and could fight without even breaking a sweat, or that Sokka’s face heated up whenever she got too close. It was the fact that she was in the Kyoshi warriors, that was another reason to add onto the already long list onto why Sokka didn’t believe in soulmates.

They had just finished their first practice session, sitting along the wall as the rest of the warriors had left the room. Sokka had put aside his pride and had learned from her, which was difficult, learning from a girl, but she had proved that maybe Sokka had been wrong in his thinking. Maybe he was wrong about more than just his thoughts about gender roles.   
“How do you even become a Kyoshi warrior?” Sokka asked this out of pure curiosity, wanting to know if it was a volunteer thing, a family thing, or a skill set thing. 

“We don’t have soulmates,” Suki’s voice was relaxed, as if she hadn’t just shook Sokka’s entire world.

He was suddenly straight up, eyes wide with attention as he spoke, “I thought everyone did. My village always said everyone had one,”

“Everyone has different beliefs, but we haven’t felt any sort of soulmate. Some of us might have one, but once we feel one we discuss it amongst ourselves. If they wish to leave they can, it’s a dangerous duty afterall, but if they decide to stay they can never pursue that relationship,” she paused, looking at the ceiling as if she was lost in thought, “Love clouds your judgement. We cannot be held back, “ as soon as the last word was spoken her eyes had locked with Sokka, making the statement sincere.

“But, how can you not-” 

Suki’s hand was up to stop Sokka from speaking more, “It’s not known for sure. Some people just don’t have them. We can make theories though, some die early, some had a soulmate that died early in life, some have some other worldly purpose, that sort of thing, “ her hand waved the question off, as if there was no use in questioning it at all.

Worldly purpose, die early, was that why the Kyoshi warriors didn’t have soulmates? Because half of them would die early? He secretly hoped that really wasn’t the case, for Suki’s sake. 

The last day at Kyoshi Island only further proved to Sokka that he hated Zuko. Zuko just had to ruin everything didn’t he? The island was burning all because of him, Suki was fighting with her life on the line, children were crying, all because Zuko was hellbent on taking Aang. 

Sokka didn’t even know how to react when Suki had given him a parting kiss on the cheek. So many things were happening and Sokka could feel too many emotions, more than one person should, thanks to his soulmate. 

When the trio left Kyoshi Island Sokka knew that he didn’t have a soulmate. As far as he was concerned Zuko was his enemy, maybe it was the opposite for the two of them, maybe instead of feeling their soulmate they could feel their enemy. It didn’t make sense, but that was what Sokka decided to believe. 

Sokka felt content when they arrived at the Northern Water Tribe, the huge buildings and walls were definitely different than back home, but at least the weather was similar. What made it even better was a huge feast had taken place, celebrating the trio’s arrival and the Princess’s birthday.

Her name was Yue.

She was beautiful, her silver hair a stark contrast to her bronze skin, matching snow in a way that Sokka never knew was possible. Although Sokka had been awkward at the feast the two hit it off, laughing together throughout the dinner. Sokka did his best to ignore Katara’s stare, not wanting her to ruin this for him. In fact Sokka had ignored the pair of waterbenders for the majority of their time spent there.

He spent most of that time with Yue. Sokka learned so many things about the Water Tribe Princess. She loved reading, cared for her people, and she had the best laugh that Sokka had ever heard. She also was engaged and didn’t have a soulmate.

The two stood on one of the many bridges throughout the ice city, the moon shining bright as their hands laid dangerously close to each other. 

“I have a fiance, Hahn, I think you’ve met him,” Her voice devastated and heavy.

Sokka had met him. Only briefly, but it was clear that the boy was a conceited ass, he had hoped that maybe he was different with others than he had been with Sokka. From the look of Yue, he guessed he was wrong to hope.

“Do you love him?” Sokka spoke in a quiet voice without even realizing, the moon showing the stillness in the water.

“He’s not my soulmate,” her voice became just as quiet, as if this was a secret. 

“Who is?”

“I don’t have one,”

Yue didn’t have a soulmate. For a moment Sokka’s mind had gone back to Suki’s words die young, wordly purpose, he really hoped Suki was wrong.

“But do you love him? Do you even like him?” Now Sokka was worried, why was she marrying someone if she didn’t even like the boy? 

“No, but I love my people,” 

“You aren’t marrying your people,” Sokka just wanted Yue to be happy at this point and all of this was pointing to the opposite. When she kissed Sokka he was caught off guard, but he hadn’t pulled away. It was Yue who broke the kiss suddenly, as if he had pushed her off.

“Oh god, I didn’t even ask if you had someone-”

Sokka’s eyes widened, someone, she was talking about a soulmate. Of course she was. 

“I don’t want to be with him,” it came out shaky, as if he was nervous to even share the information.

“Why?”

The two spent the rest of the night talking about both their ordeals. How she was sure she didn’t have a soulmate for a reason, how she envied people with one, how she was going to marry Hahn because it was her duty, and how she had grown to like Sokka quite a bit.

Sokka spilled all of the information he had about Zuko to Yue. For the first time he had been able to actually speak about his own feelings in detail and about the actual reality of the situation. He didn’t love Zuko and he was sure he was never going to. 

Yue had asked if he thought it might be a platonic soulmate situation, thinking that maybe one reason Sokka didn’t like the idea was that it was with another man. Sokka had shook his head at that, “I hate his haircut, but he’s good looking,” a pause, as a blush spread across his face, “I don’t think I’ve ever cared about the gender,”

Sokka had never been told his feelings were wrong in that aspect, but he hadn’t exactly been entirely open with everyone. Katara knew that Sokka had a male soulmate and so did Aang, that was enough for the two to figure out that at least men were an option for him. Everyone else though? They had never spoken of it, not in a negative manner or in a good one. Sokka could remember his Dad mentioning a friend of his being with another man, but it was only a passing conversation.

Yue was the first person Sokka fully opened up to. About everything and anything. The two went back and forth about their feelings, sexuality, fears, family, and everything in between. They had even kissed more after that, lazy kisses in between conversation, but something had felt missing throughout it all. 

Zuko had to ruin this too. Before Sokka knew it, war had begun and the person he had just become so close to was put in danger. Aang had been taken by Zuko and in return Aang had saved Zuko from freezing to death. Sokka wasn’t sure if Aang had saved Zuko because he was a kind person or because he was Sokka’s soulmate. The Fire Nation General planned to kill the moon spirit, which he succeeded in, plugging the world into darkness. 

It all happened too fast. One minute Yue was right next to him, staring at the lake that had once carried the moon spirit, the next she was offering her life to save the moon. Sokka held tight onto her, she couldn’t go, no he wouldn’t let her leave. He had just met her, maybe if they had more time, more time to be together than he’d find what was missing-

She didn’t listen. Yue was limp in his arms in a matter of minutes, her pulse gone as light came back into the world. Her spirit lingered, kissing him on the forehead as she spoke, her voice gentle and caring, “You belong with him. Your soulmate is here on earth, close to you, keep him in your heart. As I’ll keep you in mine,” 

She was gone right after.

Sokka had found what was missing with Yue. It would be missing with everyone else besides Zuko; true love. He didn’t love Zuko and he wasn’t sure if he ever would, but maybe the universe hadn’t made a mistake after all. Maybe one day things would be different, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that Yue was a spirit who had given up her life so that Sokka could live his. 

And she believed in soulmates. She believed that Zuko really wasn’t that evil, even with the harm he had done. 

It was all too much and Sokka wished he could’ve just had more time with Yue, but it was too late. All that was left was a dying message that Sokka wasn’t sure what to think of. 

He didn’t love Zuko, but he couldn’t bring himself to hate the teen anymore. It felt like disrespecting Yue’s last words, so he decided he’d be indifferent to Zuko. That was better than hate at least.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm super sorry to disappoint, but this isn't a new chapter!!

Right now I'm in the process of moving and along with working two different jobs its a bit difficult for me to focus on this right now! I'm still planning on continuing this story I promise, but I will update once I am settled in my new place and have some things sorted out. I hope you all understand and I hope you all are doing well!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko meets human trash can Jet and for some reason he isn't repulsed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Finally got things sorted out at my new place, whoop! Anyway thanks to everyone who helped out with this chapter as always. <3
> 
> Zuko is going through a rough time my dudes, everything is so confusing for him, poor boy being manipulated :(
> 
> If anyone ever wants to talk to me about the fic or anything I'm always up for new buds! (trashuriee on tumblr)

Zuko never thought he’d be on a ferry to Ba Sing Se. He thought he’d be traveling to the city to take it over or to command a fleet one day, but here he was, staring out into the ocean with a bunch of refugees. The very same people he would’ve made refugees. Zuko was one of them now, on the opposite side of the war. Could he call it being on the opposite side though? It wasn’t like he was fighting for anyone. Zuko needed to stop time, needed to take a break from running, starving, and being an enemy of the state. It was easier said than done, but somehow him and his uncle had made it onto the ferry (with some gross flirting from his uncle).

Of course the pair had to hide their identities and the fact that they were fire benders, but Zuko didn’t exactly care. It sounded better than anything that had happened in the last few months and he was just so tired. So tired of it all.

One thing Zuko wasn’t sure he could get used to though, was this awful food they served on the ferry. He scrunched his face at the green looking sludge, almost puking just from the smell. Despite it all, Zuko took a bite though, only to hurl it back up over the edge of the ship, tossing the bowl in frustration as soon as he stood up right. 

Why someone would come over and talk to him at that point was a mystery to him, but without any warning a teen who seemed about his age had his elbows on the edge of the ship, looking at Zuko with a smirk.

“What are you, some kind of prince?” his tone was serious and flat, which only made Zuko feel more worried. Had he seen him before? How did he know? What did Zuko do to give it away? Would he have to fight- suddenly a loud laugh interrupted his thoughts, “Spirits, I was only joking. Do you have something against princes? I mean, don’t we all, but don’t get your panties in a twist,”

Zuko coughed, struggling to speak or breathe when this fluffy haired teen with some kind of a grass in his mouth stared at him. What even was that, wheat? Where did he even get wheat?

“Sorry,” why wasn’t Zuko better with words? What was he even supposed to answer back with? 

“Calm down, I’m just messing with you. You looked lonely and a little...ill, though I don’t blame you,” Zuko felt a pat on his back, a comforting gesture from the stranger, “I’m Jet, what’s your name?”

“Zu-” he coughed loudly, remembering he couldn’t possibly say his real name. What would be a normal name no one would ever look into? Something common, something easy, “Sorry, I’m Lee,” the name came out without much thought, he guessed he’d have to stick to that alias now. 

“Well Lee, what would you say if I told you we could get better food?” his tone was lighter now, as if this was an exciting topic to him.

“I’d say you’re full of shit,” was it wise to be swearing around someone he just met? For a moment he worried, but the teen obsessed with having some sort of farm crop in his mouth only chuckled. 

“Honest, I like it. The captains are eating like Kings while we are all getting whatever the hell you just threw,” a pause was heard as Jet put his arm around Zuko’s shoulders. Zuko could feel his cheeks heat up.

“And as I see you hate royalty as much as I do, I think you’d be up for stealing some of that food for the rest of us,”

Zuko gulped. He was supposed to stay low, but if that's true, could he let it go on? He could barely eat the food as it was, what about everyone else? There were kids on here- Mother’s who were pregnant, honest workers trying to get to a better place. 

“I don’t know,” Zuko said as he looked around the ship, seeing the multiple frowns on the passengers' faces as they tried to eat the bowl of mystery food.

“Yes you do, you know it’s right. Come on Lee, are you scared?”

He was scared. Zuko was terrified of making himself known, of drawing any attention. But, with the hand on his shoulder and the teens face so close to his own, it was hard to say no. Especially when he thought of just how gross that food actually was. Stealing some food wouldn’t have Azula find him, it would be fine.

“I’m in,”

It was a rush. Zuko had never felt like some sort of vigilante, only when he was behind the Blue Spirit mask and now he understood just why he had liked the mask so much. The rush of stealing was fun in itself, but what was even better was the bright eyes and smiles he saw while handing out the food. Jet was right, they were eating like royalty. It felt like a meal his own family would have.

* * *

After that every moment with Jet felt like a rush. The two had been so engrossed in each other that when Zuko came back to a steaming cup of tea in his uncle’s hand he hadn’t even realized what the old man had done at first, Jet hadn’t even paid it any attention either. Instead he had offered for Zuko to join a group called ‘The Freedom Fighters’ which really only consisted of Jet and his two friends, but Zuko refused. He 

knows there was a line somewhere about being noticed and joining a rebel group was definitely a way for him to get noticed. Jet still mentioned the group every time the two met, but he had never pushed for Zuko to join them, which Zuko was grateful for. 

The two continued to see each other as time passed in Ba Sing Se. As Zuko worked at the tea shop he’d see Jet at night, learning many things about the teen. One thing that was hard to miss was that Jet despised the Fire Nation. It was normal for Earth Kingdom refugees, but for some reason it felt like Jet hated them more than anyone Zuko had met. Jet also loved to steal, though he often made it seem like he was stealing for some greater good- whether or not that was true Zuko didn’t know. Jet also didn’t know what personal space was. At least Zuko gathered that, with all the times Jet insisted on touching him when it wasn’t needed, or leaning too close to Zuko’s face…Zuko didn’t hate it.

Jet had stolen liquor from some noble when he had shown up at the tea shop at an unreasonable hour, Zuko really should’ve been sleeping (he had the morning shift), but instead the strangely convincing teen kept him out all night.

The two sat in the corner of the Freedom Fighters base, which really was just an abandoned shed big enough for Jet and the two friends who had accompanied him. Those very same friends were nowhere in sight and as the two continued drinking it was made clear why their empty beds upset Jet so much.

“They don’t understand what we need to do,” Jet’s voice was more raspy than usual, a few syllables being slurred as he spoke.

Zuko shifted, his cheeks hot as he took another drink from the huge bottle, what kind of alcohol even was this? He had no idea, but he took another sip before speaking, “What do you mean?”

“We keep getting into fights about what's right. This time I wanted to raid an officials house and they refused to help,” Jet paused as he grabbed the bottle from Zuko, shifting closer on the shitty makeshift bed, “It ended up being a screaming match and they said they can’t be a part of the Freedom Fighters if I don’t change, so they left,”

“I’m sure they’ll be better once they cool down, “ Zuko’s words were slurred and he didn’t exactly understand the situation, but he knew that the trio seemed to be really close, “They’ll be back,”

“Lee, tell me why you are the only one sticking by me?” this was said right after Jet had taken another sip, passing it to Zuko.

Zuko became painfully aware of just how close Jet was to him when he felt a knee hit his own, barely any space between the two at all. He felt like his heart was pounding out of his chest and he was sure his cheeks were bright red, they felt hot at least. 

“We’re friends,” Zuko said weakly, not even sure if he was convincing to even himself. Did friends lie to each other as much as Zuko lied to Jet? Did friends sit this close? 

“Friends,” Jet said, his voice sounding like it was hiding something, smirking as he grabbed the damn wheat from his mouth, setting it down, reaching over to grab the bottle from Zuko, setting it down somewhere. 

Before Zuko realized what was happening, warm lips were on his own. To Zuko’s own surprise he kissed back, ignoring the warning signs in his mind. It didn’t stop anytime soon, Jet’s hands in Zuko’s hair, hands on Zuko’s hips, a mouth on Zuko’s neck. When Jet had moved to take his shirt off that was when Zuko realized exactly what the two of them were doing. 

Zuko hadn’t thought about his soulmate in awhile. It was obvious it was best to ignore the entire situation, especially considering who exactly his soulmate was. So why did it feel like he was cheating? 

Besides, this was a boy. A really attractive boy, but a boy nonetheless. Zuko couldn’t. All his life he had only heard bad things about people who were attracted to the same sex and Zuko definetly was attracted to Jet. It was wrong, maybe it was the alcohol?

Zuko’s hands were up in a second flat, shaking his head and his hands, trying his best to let Jet know that he didn’t want to continue.

Hands were on his own in a second flat, a voice filled with alcohol and sadness spoke, “Have you met your soulmate already?”

Without thinking Zuko answered, “Yes,”

“Are you two seeing each other?”

“No,” Zuko’s voice was shaking, he just wanted to be back at the teashop now.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“It’s just,” Zuko stopped, what was the problem exactly? There were a million problems with this, firstly the fact that they were both boys. Zuko could never allow himself to give in to that part of him. Secondly he did have a soulmate, but would he ever even be with the boy? All he ever did was hurt his soulmate anyway.   
  
When Zuko stopped speaking Jet took that as his opening, “Please then, just for tonight,”

Zuko should’ve said no. He should’ve gone back to the teashop and begged his uncle for forgiveness, but Zuko never seemed to do the things he should’ve.

The rest of the night Zuko stayed with Jet, hands traveling and clothes being tossed to the side. It was awkward and neither of them knew what they were doing, but it felt nice. Zuko didn’t hate it, though he found himself thinking about how he’d be thrown in prison if he was at home for this.

The next morning Zuko woke to an arm slung around him and a pounding headache. It took detaching himself from the teen and staring at his surroundings and the clothes on the floor for the realization of what exactly the two had done to hit him.

Zuko wanted to throw up. No, scratch that he was throwing up. Zuko jumped out of the bed, grabbing the blanket to cover himself as he sprinted to the door, opening it to only let all the contents of his stomach leave him. God, why did this place have to be a shed without a fucking bathroom? 

A hand was felt on his shoulder eventually, moving in a comforting gesture as Zuko tried to piece all of the events from the night before together.

“Please don’t touch me,” Zuko’s voice was weak, he wanted to punch himself in the face. How could he have let this happen?

“You liked me touching you last night,” Jet’s voice sounded annoyed now.

Zuko knocked Jet’s hand off of his shoulder, wiping his mouth as he stared at the teen.

“Nevermind, that was rude of me, sorry,” Jet took the words back almost immediately, a look of guilt on his face. Or was that just what being rejected looked like?

Zuko couldn’t speak. He didn’t know what to say, all he knew was that he wanted to sleep in his own bed back home. 

“I’ll leave, change whenever,”

With that Jet went past Zuko and out the door, the same piece of wheat in his mouth from the night before. Zuko walked across the shed, his steps almost dragging as he grabbed his clothes. As he slid them on he couldn’t figure out if he felt guilty for doing something so looked down upon in the fire nation or if he felt guilty for doing this with someone who wasn’t his soulmate.

That morning was rough at the teashop, his uncle giving him an all knowing look and some herbal tea with a warning of, “It helps if you eat while you drink,” but the old man said nothing else relating to Zuko’s obvious hangover.

Days went by without any contact with Jet and Zuko was fine with that. Jet was a bad influence, that was all it was, nothing else. That is until Jet stopped by the shop as Zuko was closing up shop, a relaxed look on his face as he leaned against the wall.

“What are you doing here?” Zuko sounded angry, pissed by the very existence of Jet.

“Aw Lee, that’s mean, no welcome?” Jet didn’t sound offended at all, just amused, “Look, I’m sorry if I upset you, “ suddenly the tone changed, a more serious and annoyed one replacing the amusement Zuko heard only a second ago.

“Sorry doesn’t change what we did, does it?” Zuko wanted to rip his hair out, how did Jet not understand?

“What’s wrong with it? If the soulmate was an issue you would’ve said so, I’m not bothered by you having a soulmate, if that’s it,” he shifted his weight, chewing on the wheat in his mouth.

“I just can’t, okay?”

“Okay,” Jet said with a shrug and for a second Zuko really thought the other had given up, but Jet did the exact opposite of what he had agreed to, walking closer and placing his lips on Zuko’s.

For some reason Zuko didn’t push Jet off. 

The two spent a month like this, stolen kisses and drunk touches. Worry seemed to be on Iroh’s face more often, but he never stopped Zuko from going out. Some days Zuko would ignore Jet just to see if he could, knowing that this couldn’t last anyway and the more it went on the more Zuko hated himself.

It was on one of these days that Jet and Zuko got into a heated argument. The shed was empty once again, Zuko being pulled by his wrist to the wooden makeshift home, “Why are you ignoring me?” Jet’s voice was loud, slamming the door behind him as he let go of Zuko’s wrist.

“I don’t want to do this anymore, “ Zuko gulped, trying his best to remain calm.

“Did I do something wrong? What is it, tell me,” Jet’s demanded, swinging his hands in the air.

“No, I just...I can’t,” If Zuko said he hated himself would that be a good answer?

“Lee, you can’t keep switching things. Yesterday you were perfectly fine with-” his voice stopped mid sentence, as if they had this conversation a million times. A huge sigh leaving his mouth, “Lee, I’m getting really fucking tired of this,”

“So am I, let’s stop, okay?” Zuko just wanted to lay down.

“At least give me a reason!”

Before Zuko could think of a better excuse he spoke, “You aren’t my soulmate,”

“I don’t give a fuck about soulmates! Spirits are they even real?”

“They’re real,”

“Well obviously they aren’t real enough if you have been hanging around with me,”

Zuko just shook his head, this was getting repetitive. How many times had they had this fight?

“You know what, fine, fuck this!” Jet yelled, slamming open the door, “Get out,” 

Zuko did just that, storming out of the sorry excuse for a home and walking down the familiar alleyway to the teashop. He was so angry, so annoyed at himself, at Jet, at all of this. Wasn’t this supposed to be a break? This normal teen drama was not any fun at all, which was even better? 

The anger flowed through his body, rushing out his hands in a single second, a flame appearing for only a moment before Zuko quickly controlled himself. In panic he looked around the alleyway, no one was around, he was okay.

Or at least he thought so.

When Jet stormed into the tea shop with his weird hook weapons, demanding that Zuko fight him in front of the customers, well that’s when Zuko had his doubts that he was okay. 

“I saw him firebending! I saw it! Fire went out of his hands, he’s a firebender!” he was shouting this at anyone who was close, lunging at Zuko eventually.

Zuko had pushed him off, he was so sure no one had seen him in the alleyway, but apparently Jet had. It didn’t make any sense, Jet had told him to get out, why would he have even followed Zuko? Whatever the case Zuko was now dealing with a screaming accusing Jet, well at least until one of the customers alerted the police. For a moment Zuko was scared that he was going to be taken away, but handcuffs were placed on Jet’s hands instead.

As Jet was taken away Zuko began to wonder if Jet really saw him bend at all. Maybe Jet had been hiding, but it still hadn’t made any sense. Would Jet make up something like that from his anger?

Jet screamed as he was being taken away, not knowing that he was actually correct about Zuko being a fire bender afterall. Getting back at Zuko had backfired, afterall he had never seen the teen fire bend at all.

Zuko never saw Jet again after that night. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka has not seen Zuko in awhile and Ba Sing Se is nothing like he imagined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always to everyone who helped out with this chapter. <3
> 
> I'm full of ideas now that I'm all settled in my new place, so quick updates maybe?

Sokka hadn’t seen Zuko in a long time now. Well, it felt like a long time with all of the new things that had happened. One of which was the newest addition to their team; Toph. She was a rich twelve year old kid with a sharp tongue, but she could earth bend like nothing Sokka had ever seen. Besides, Toph made his sister go crazy and it was fun to watch if nothing else. 

“So, is boomerang boy going to tell me why he sounds disappointed when it’s Azula showing up to kill us and not Zuko, was that his name? Angry fire boy, you all know the one,” Toph sat with her feet propped up on a chunk of rock that she had shaped into something semi-comfortable, her hands waving in the air. 

Sokka turned his head to glare at the young earth bender, until he remembered that she wouldn’t even be able to see it. Did her being blind have to make him communicate? 

Katara spoke up right away, a dismissive tone in her voice, “Tragic love or something like that. Soulmates, but we made a deal not to talk about it,”

“I wasn’t part of that deal,” Toph said this with a shrug, her body language being quite good for someone who couldn’t even see.

“We should respect Sokka’s wishes, “ Aang said, trying his best to be a mediator in the situation.

“Oh shut up twinkle toes, come on, spill the juice Sokka,”

Sokka let out a groan, “You’ve heard of soulmates, right? They talk about that in the Earth Kingdom, right?”

“Yes, indeed they do smarty pants, now tell me why this is so tragic,”

“You just mentioned him trying to kill us!”

“Yeah, past tense. He hasn’t shown up in awhile,” Toph blew a piece of hair out of her face, was there even a point to that?

“Zuko is an awful person, I swear I still don’t understand how Sokka got cursed with that one, even if he is my brother,” Katara said this in a sigh, her opinions of Zuko always being crystal clear. 

“Hey! He can’t be  _ all _ bad, Katara don’t,” Sokka said defensively, not even knowing why he was defending the boy who had been trying to murder them for months.

“Don’t what, say the truth?” Katara stood up, crossing her arms and staring down at Sokka sitting on a log. 

“Katara!” Sokka stood up, his face inches away from Katara, a huge frown on his face, glaring with all of his strength. 

It was Aang who spoke up next, “Come on guys,” Aang stood up now, walking towards the fighting siblings and slowly pulling them apart, “Katara don’t say anything if you can’t say anything nice, come on we know he’s sensitive about this,” the last part of his sentence was quieter, as if he thought that would stop Sokka from hearing it.

“Sensitive!” Sokka stomped his foot, his voice obviously annoyed.

“Sokka you know what he meant,” this time Katara spoke, her arms folded as Aang retreated. 

“Hate to break up the drama we have here, but I still don’t know what’s the big deal,” Toph said this relentlessly, obviously not going to give up the topic anytime soon.

“Katara, wanna water bend with me?” Aang asked hopefully, wanting to get the both of them as far away from the conversation as possible.

Katara groaned, but soon her and Aang were nowhere to be seen, leaving Sokka and Toph alone.

“Tell me about your tragic love, do you even know for sure it's him?” Toph wiggled her toes, obviously not super invested in the conversation.

“I know for sure,” Sokka sat back down on the log, sighing into his hand before speaking again, “He has this huge scar on his face and I felt that one, as well as all of his other burns and injuries. It was hard to ignore those. I also, just know, “

“I get it, so tell me about him then, I’m curious,”

For some reason Sokka didn’t hate this. He didn’t love Zuko, he wasn’t even friends with him. But, he hadn’t talked about the other since Yue, which felt like forever ago now. It was difficult not talking about the one person that you thought about all the time.

“Fire nation Prince, dark hair, used to be in a really shitty ponytail,” Sokka looked up at the sky, closing his eyes as he tried to picture the teen, “He’s very emotional, I always get mood swings from him. I know that he never feels like he’s enough and is always working hard, but the only times I’ve actually spoken to him were the times he was trying to take Aang, so,”

Despite knowing the teen inside and out Sokka rarely had any interaction with him, or at least rarely any interaction that required him to actually talk to the teen for an extended period of time.

“I have no grudge against him like princess over there,” Toph pointed in the direction that Aang and Katara had gone, “So, you can talk to me about him, if you ever need to,” 

“There’s no point, you’ll hate him eventually,”

“I’ll let you know if I do, but people need to talk about these things dummy!”

Right after that, Azula and the usual two other fire nation girls showed up, which was always annoying, but they all got away in the end.

* * *

Getting on a ferry to Ba Sing Se proved to be more difficult than the group had originally believed and somehow they got roped into helping people cross a dangerous path called ‘Serpent's Pass’. Suki and the warriors had been around the area boarding ferry’s and for some reason Suki decided to join the group instead of traveling with her warriors. 

Sokka was excited to see her and grateful for her help, though seeing her this close only proved just how much he had missed the short haired warrior. She looked great as always, only shrugging when she was asked if she was sure that she wanted to travel with Sokka and the group.

Walking side by side she bumped into him, which caused Sokka to look at her, his eyebrows raised, “Yes?”

“You know part of the reason I volunteered to join you guys was to see you right?” Her tone was playful, smiling at Sokka as if they were just taking a walk instead of walking right into the most feared pathway.

“I see that you’ve noticed my charm,” Sokka said this with the same tone, not exactly realizing just how lame that sounded. 

Suki found it charming though, “Yes of course, but I have to let you know Sokka I’m disappointed, not even peck on the cheek?”

Sokka felt his cheeks flush, “I can make up for that later,” Sokka tried to remain calm.

“You better,” and with that Suki walked ahead, leaving Sokka to think about that interaction for the rest of the day.

* * *

After almost being murdered by traveling the awful path, the group had an hour of rest, they really needed it. During this time Suki and Sokka sat close together, hidden away from the group by a rock.

Sokka had moved to kiss her, wanting to keep up with his promise from earlier, but instead of feeling her lips he felt a hand block him, his eyes opening as soon as he realized what had happened. A bright red blush on his face as he spoke, “Sorry,”

“No, I want to talk before, “ she gestured between the two of them, “This,”

“Oh, okay,” Sokka said this with a hint of confusion in his voice, worrying if he had done something wrong.

“Although soulmates aren’t a huge thing for me or my people, I know they are for you,” she took a pause, smoothing her skirt, “I also want you to know that my work comes first before anything else,”

“Yes, of course,” 

“So, what I wanted to say is I am all for continuing this as long as we are both aware of the circumstances. If you ever wish to pursue something with Zuko, I’d support you. I just want you to know that,”

“Oh,” Sokka found it difficult to find any words to say, not even sure how to have this conversation at all, “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,”

“If the concept of soulmates is real I think I will,” Suki paused, turning her face to look directly at Sokka, “Look, all I’m saying is you won’t ever have to feel pressured by me and I will support you and Zuko if that time ever comes,”

Sokka was truly thankful for Suki, knowing that he wouldn’t have even ever had this conversation, he really didn’t know how she was his good with words. Sokka always sucked at communicating.

“Thank you,” was all Sokka answered back with before the pair of teens kissed lazily in their hiding spot.

* * *

Ba Sing Se was weird, weirder than weird even. Their tour guide refused to answer their questions and avoided any topics that weren’t about shopping or places to eat. They all were annoyed by it, but Sokka got more agitated the longer they went without any answers. 

He had helped with the flyers for Appa, making sure they were everywhere in the city, hoping that someone would say they found the bison. How hard was it to even find a giant sky bison anyway? Aang’s mood wasn’t the best either, but he appreciated the help Sokka provided. Even the flyers were taken away eventually, their tour guide, Joo Dee, knocking on their guest house holding some in her hands. Apparently they needed a permit and they couldn’t even get one for a few months. They didn’t have that much time! 

Sokka was getting restless. He needed to do something, anything. This restlessness ended up with him hiding behind a tall chair, listening in to conversations that some hot shot Long Fei was having with what looked like government officials.

“The Avatar and his group of kids keep insisting on meeting the King,” said a nameless man, his face hidden behind a shadow.

“They’ll have to wait,” Long Fei sounded annoyed, as if this conversation was not important at all.

“And when they see the King? What will we do then? They will tell him about the war!”

“The King won’t even believe them,”

Sokka shifted his weight, which resulted in a small squeak of his shoes. 

“Did you hear that?” 

“Check it out,” now Long Fei sounded more lively.

Before Sokka could make a move to leave he felt a hard pull on the back of his shirt, the same nameless man now holding him up by the collar. It took a few punches before Sokka was knocked unconscious, his world completely blank.

By the time that Sokka came to, he was laying in the guest house the group had been provided with, making a move to sit up, but only wincing in defeat as he laid back down. Katara was there in a minute, bending down by him with concern and what looked like relief all over her features.

“Do you remember anything? You’ve been out for days,” she moved to feel his forehead, seemingly glad with the results as she pulled her hand back, “We found you right on the doorstep, someone dropped you off.”

Sokka remembered plenty of things, but none of them would relieve his sister of her concerns, “I was listening to Long Fei and someone else, I don’t know who,” Sokka groaned as he spoke, his head was pounding, “They are saying the King doesn’t know of the war and won’t believe us if we tell him,”

“That’s ridiculous, are you sure?”

“Yes, Katara I’m fucking sure, spirits,” despite Katara helping him and being concerned she still could make Sokka want to pull on her hair.

“Okay, wow, calm down,”

“My head is pounding,” Sokka said, bringing his hand to his forehead, it felt like it would explode.

“A doctor will be here soon, he has been checking on you every day,”

Katara was right, a doctor was there soon, but the old man didn’t have any good news. Despite Sokka being awake now his ‘journey’ was far from over. He was informed that he had broken ribs and somehow his ankles had gotten crushed, basically they were toast for a month at least. In short Sokka was bedridden and there was nothing he could do about it. 

* * *

If Sokka felt restless before he was not even sure what to call this feeling, it felt beyond restless. The only entertainment he got was the old man checking on him each day, everyone else was out trying to, well you know, save the world and here Sokka was, laying down with a constant headache. 

Something that made this entire situation worse was the fact that apparently Zuko had great timing for suddenly becoming more noticeable in Sokka’s mind. Zuko hadn’t been this upset in awhile or Sokka hadn’t been able to fully focus on Zuko’s emotions, but now that was all he could do. All Sokka could do was feel Zuko’s confusion and pain, but not know the cause of it all.

Zuko had disappeared from the group's lives for over a month now, and yet Zuko was not doing remotely well. At times Sokka would feel a blush spread across his cheeks for no reason at all, which wasn’t awful. But, then he’d feel guilt- an overwhelming amount of guilt and self hatred. It didn’t help that Zuko seemed to be confused, his emotions never staying stable throughout the entire time Sokka was bedridden.  "

It had been over a month before Sokka had been allowed to even walk across the guest house with crutches, but he was thankful to move at least a little. He still was annoyed when everyone in the house was out, but he couldn’t do anything about that.

After a few weeks on crutches and regular check ups he was allowed to move without them, but he was told to ‘take it easy’, which really just meant not helping anyone find out anything about this weird city. 

Sokka had been flipping the pages of a boring book when Katara had slammed open the door, her voice loud and full of panic, “We need to leave!”

Sokka didn’t question her and with her help they quickly climbed onto Appa. Of course Sokka had many questions, but the one that seemed the most pressing wasn’t relating to why they had to leave right now at all.

“Why is he here?!” Sokka pointed towards a fluffy brunette who looked to be in pain, Sokka wasn’t even sure if he was conscious.

“He was brainwashed, let Katara heal him, “ this time the words came from Toph, not understanding what was so awful about saving the teen.

“Aang, you let her take Jet with us?” Sokka’s voice was loud, frustration clear.

“I couldn’t let him die,”

  
That made everyone silent. In fact the ride was silent for hours besides for a few winces of pain from Jet. The silence was finally broken by Katara, wiping her hands on her skirt as she spoke, “He should be fine for now, but we really should get him to a doctor,”   
  
Jet was on Appa. Jet had his head on his sister’s knee and no one seemed concerned, what was going on? Sokka had never been more confused in his entire life.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko finds out that he doesn't want the life he used to anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who helped out! <3  
> Also this fic is going to divert from cannon more now, just a warning! Anything that does not match cannon was made to be that way from now on. Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy!!

Azula made one last attack towards the Avatar, a smirk on her face as she realized this was the perfect moment to strike. If the child died now, then the fire nation would never have to worry about another Avatar ever again; it was perfect. Zuko stood, motionless as he realized what was happening, watching his sister smirk and strike with a bolt of lightning leaving her hand in an effortless move. There was no guilt in her eyes, only hunger. 

Zuko could’ve stopped her. He could’ve stopped it all, could’ve taken back betraying his uncle, could’ve saved the Avatar, but he was frozen. Zuko knew this had to happen, he knew the moment he had betrayed his uncle and joined Azula that it would end like this, but for some reason it now felt more real than ever.

He had thought about killing, capturing, or doing whatever was needed to gain back his honor for years now and for some reason, now it all felt wrong. Zuko felt disgusted with himself, but stayed still as he watched the young boy fall to the ground. The Avatar was dead. 

Zuko awoke with a jolt, his forehead dripping from sweat as he looked around his dark bedchambers. It was a dream, of course it was. But, it had been real. The very thing he dreamt about had happened over a month ago and yet, he couldn’t get it out of his mind. 

This was the fifth time this week he had woken up from this dream.

* * *

The dark hallway was only illuminated by the small fire in Zuko’s hand for what seemed like the millionth time since he had been back home, it seemed he could hardly sleep at all lately. All of his wishes had come true or at least everything he had thought he wanted had come true, but none of it felt right anymore. 

He had earned his Father’s respect and was welcomed home, he saw his friends almost everyday, and the avatar was no longer a threat. All of this could be seen from the surface level, but if Zuko looked closer at the situation it became clear that not everything was as perfect as he had dreamed of. 

The avatar wasn’t dead. Zuko knew this, but he couldn’t say anything about this. Azula had already done her best to pin all the blame onto Zuko if the Avatar was somehow still alive. Zuko couldn’t even say  _ how _ he knew. WIth his soulmate being the water tribe boy that was always around the Avatar it would’ve been easy to tell if the Avatar had actually died, but the only people who had any sort of clue who his soulmate was were Azula and Iroh. Azula kept this information to herself as more of a threat than anything else, just as she had done with most things; she had always been so observant. Iroh on the other hand had only wanted what was best for his Nephew, but instead was betrayed and threw in a cell. 

Sokka had not felt any sort of despair or grief, that much was certain, but what the teen had felt was some form of annoyance, but that had seemed to be where most of his emotions had been for the last two months. All Zuko had felt from his soulmates were bits of anger and frustration, but nothing had pointed to one of his closest friends being dead. And well, the end of his world. 

_ Zuko knew the Avatar was alive. _

Everyone had been praising him for killing a child...that he didn’t even kill. Everyone had also been praising him for putting his uncle in a cell, for betraying the only person who had ever had his back. It all felt wrong,  _ so wrong _ . 

This was also not the first time he had decided to travel to the prison cell where his uncle was kept. For some reason it was always late at night, when Zuko couldn’t sleep that he found himself standing on the opposite side of the bars, speaking to what seemed like a hollow version of the man he had known before. 

The stone echoed from his steps as he walked down the long corridor to the familiar cell room. It was loud and unnerving, but most things were these days. The wooden door creaked open, guards giving an all knowing look before retreating the room. They knew the drill; the prince wanted privacy. 

Zuko still didn’t know why he even came here at all. Iroh gave no responses, the most he’d do is turn the opposite way, with his back towards Zuko.

This time his uncle did that very same thing, Zuko frowning as he leaned against the stone wall, seeing the once proud man hide his face and only show his back.

“You know I had to do it right?”

No response.

“I had to regain my honor! If you’d just listen instead of ignore me you’d understand!” Zuko was shouting now, he wasn’t sure why.

As expected there was no response from his uncle, not even a single movement besides the small signs of breathing.

“You know what? You’re just a crazy old man! Forget it!”

Zuko stayed there for another minute, wanting his uncle to say anything, anything at all to him. If Iroh yelled at him, scolded him, or even gave some form of acknowledgement that would’ve been enough for him, but instead he was just left with...nothing.

A hand slammed onto the stone wall, tears spilling out of Zuko’s eyes without his permission. They were quickly wiped away, not that it mattered, his uncle wasn’t even  _ looking _ at him.

The wooden door was slammed shut, the guards going right back into the cell room as soon as the prince made his way back to his chambers. 

* * *

The prince’s eyes were almost sunken into his skin, his dark circles only growing bigger by the day. Zuko wasn’t even sure how much sleep he had actually gotten, it couldn’t have been more than two hours. His lack of sleep did not stop his duties though as he had been up since dawn, getting fitted for a new robe, looking over war plans, and also attending a meeting about the plans for the war. 

It was everything Zuko had dreamed of and he hated it.

The teen said nothing though, as he was sure he just needed to get used to it all. What he had wished for all of his life couldn’t be wrong, could it? Zuko knew he only felt guilt because of his ties to the Avatar, which included having a soulmate that was part of the rag tag team. It made things complicated and his emotions often got in the way of him thinking clearly. 

Besides, he shouldn’t have even cared about the boy at all. Soulmate or not he couldn’t be with him and that was that. The prince of the fire nation did not involve himself in those types of relationships, not ones that were illegal in his own country. Nor did he involve himself with anyone other than fire nation; that was just how his life was meant to be.

Zuko knew of his attraction towards men, but it didn’t seem to matter either way. He had already done what was so looked down upon with Jet and he really didn’t need a repeat of that, it had only been a mistake, one that he could forget about and move on.

“What has you looking so awful?” Mai said with her usual bland voice, care laced behind the words.

Zuko sunk his head into the couch cushion, leaning back and staring at the ceiling, “I just haven’t been getting much sleep,”

Mai only made a sound of confirmation, not saying another word for a few more minutes. The pair had always been close, even as children they were always expected to marry each other eventually. They didn’t need to talk really, just sit in each other's company and that usually was enough.

“I think my Father expects us to have some grand announcement that we’re dating or something now since you’ve come back,” Mai said this without any warning, her voice not changing tone once from his usual monotone sound.

Zuko felt his cheeks heat up, “Dating?”

“Let me rephrase; do you want to be my boyfriend, Zuko,” this time Mai turned her head towards Zuko’s tired figure, waiting on a response.

He knew this would happen, of course he did. Everyone expected this from them, it was only normal for her to mention it. For some reason the thought of being with Mai seemed so far away before, as if he could just picture himself having a family with her and nothing else beyond that. 

Zuko knew she wasn’t his soulmate and she knew he wasn’t hers. Zuko also knew that he liked men, but had he ever considered that he might be attracted to women as well? He had always known that he’d end up with a woman, but he had never given it any more thought than that; it had seemed more like a responsibility rather than anything else.

“Yes,” Zuko’s words came out with a tired voice, lifting his head up to smile at the only true friend he had ever had. 

He could give this a try if it was with her.

* * *

It had been weeks of awkward kisses and lose hand holding for the two teens, never once going beyond those things. Zuko hadn’t wanted to and Mai had never mentioned it, so Zuko was just glad with the comfortable relationship he had with his best friend. Nothing felt amazing, but Zuko didn’t despise it, though he wasn’t sure what he’d do when they actually decided to take things further. He decided not to think about that. 

  
  


The pair sat close together on the beach, Mai’s head on Zuko’s shoulder and Zuko’s arm around Mai’s head, watching the fire crackle in front of them. Ty Lee and Azula sat just across, both with a good amount of distance from each other. The teens were on a holiday at the family’s lake property, but for some reason the trip hadn’t felt great at all. It was too  _ normal _ . Teens playing games and volleyball and a house party hadn’t exactly been something Zuko had been used to or any of the teens in their group, so the group had decided to go and sit by a fire alone.

Zuko was finding it hard to focus on the banter between his friends as he noticed Mai staring at Ty Lee, her eyes full of something he had never seen before. Ty Lee had only given smiles in their general direction, but had otherwise continued on her heated discussion with Azula.

A few hours later Zuko and Mai sat across from each other on one of the guest beds, secluded and far away from the other teens. The lights had been off, the door had been locked, and the pair had gulped before closing the distance between them. 

Zuko couldn’t even force himself to kiss further than Mai’s lips, struggling to find any enjoyment in this at all. Mai herself seemed stiff in her movements, as if she was trying to prove something to herself more than anything else. It seemed the two of them were trying to prove something that they couldn’t, eventually pulling away in frustration as they both laid on the bed, staring at the dark ceiling.

“Do you not want to touch me?” Mai’s words came out without any sort of hurt, only a tone of curiosity as she spoke.

Zuko didn’t want to lie to her, but he struggled to voice the words to come out, he didn’t want to hurt his best friend.

“I love you,” was all Zuko answered, his voice breaking.

“I know, I love you too Zuko, but...I don’t want that with you either,” her voice was tired, a sigh escaping her mouth as if she had just come to terms with something.

“You don’t?”

“I don’t,”

The pair laid in silence for a few more minutes, the air thick and tense between the two, “What does this mean for us?”

“Nothing,” Mai’s voice came out defeated.

“But-”

Mai interrupted, “Tell me who your soulmate is, Zuko,”

Zuko frooze, fear entering every part of his body. If Mai knew, would she hate him? She was of noble class like him, weren’t they both taught the same things?

“Mine is Ty Lee, “ the words left Mai like a rocket, the most emotion he had ever heard from her coming from that one single sentence. 

Suddenly so many things made sense to Zuko. How he had caught Mai staring at Ty Lee often, how the two never really seemed to be alone together, and how he had always seen her paying close attention to Ty Lee, even as they were children.

“When did you know?”

“Right before you got banished,” a gulp could be heard from across from him as she continued to speak, “She had twisted her ankle really bad one day and I had to hide away in my room the entire day so no one could find out.”

Zuko remembered that day. He remembered the pain on both of his friends' faces as Ty Lee fumbled on a cartwheel, but Ty Lee only getting medical help while Mai had been nowhere to be found. The next day she said she had a stomach ache. 

“Does she know?”

“Yes, we made a deal to not be alone together after she found out,” her voice sounded hurt, more than it ever had.

“I’m sor-” Zuko was cut off, 

“No, don’t be. Now, tell me about yours,”

“It’s the water tribe boy that travels with the Avatar,”

“Ouch,” her tone came out as usual now, but care was hidden behind her words.

“Yeah,” Zuko sighed into the word, not even knowing how to address the topic.

“I’m guessing you’ve known since you’ve seen him?”

“Yeah,”

“Double ouch,”

“Tell me about it,” Zuko tried to keep some sort of dry humor between them, but it came out flat.

“Do you think we’re broken Zuko?” Mai’s voice was breaking now, it was obvious that she was crying.

“I don’t know,” Zuko spoke honestly, feeling his own tears fall down his cheeks.

The pair had laid in each other's arms for the rest of the night, crying silently as they mumbled apologies. They agreed to never speak of it again.

* * *

The relationship between Mai and Zuko changed from that night on. The two no longer felt any sort of pressure, but kept to the illusion of them being in love. They were dating or so that is what they had everyone believe, but really when Zuko snuck into her chambers at night they only talked about their fears, which usually resulted in one of them laying on the others lap while fingers ran through their hair in a comforting gesture. 

The pair only kissed when in public, and they only held hands when they felt eyes on them. Otherwise the two stuck to being best friends, admitting that while they did love each other it was only platonically, which they accepted was better than being with someone they hated.

One good thing about this fake relationship was that it gave Zuko someone to go to when he couldn’t sleep, instead of wandering the halls. Mai and Ty Lee were both staying in the palace, something that Azula had insisted on, but Zuko wasn’t sure why. If everyone had believed the Avatar was really dead there would be no use for the teens to stay with Azula, but it seemed Azula kept the pair just ‘in case’.

“Do you think it would’ve been different for us if we were born in other families or a different nation?” Mai’s voice came out tired, yawning as she laid on her bed, watching Zuko crawl into the same bed after another nightmare had brought him here.

“Maybe,” well, Zuko was pretty sure it would’ve been better at the very least, considering he had been with Jet when he was disguised as an earth kingdom refugee, but the pair had never talked about that.

“You have more to say, spill it,” she turned her head towards the tired teen, eyebrows up.

Zuko laid his head back on the pillow, staring straight up at the ceiling as he thought about his response, “In the earth kingdom it’s easier, at least if you are a lower class citizen,”

“How would you know?”

“I pretended to be one,” Zuko spoke honestly, not feeling as if he had to lie to Mai.

“Were you with someone then?”

“Yes, not my soulmate though,”

Mai turned over, her elbow on the sheets as she gave her full attention to Zuko, “How was that?”

Zuko took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he relived the time he spent there, “I’m not sure,”

Mai went back to lay on her back, “Did you hate him?”

“No, I just don’t think it was good all of the time,” Zuko paused, “He was confusing, but I don’t hate him.”

The two fell asleep minutes after the conversation had started.

* * *

“I think Azula might have figured out who my soulmate is,” Mai said this casually, watching the tired teen crawl into her bed once again.

Zuko yawned, “Why do you say that?”

“Earlier today she said that if she didn’t know any better she’d think I was in love with Ty Lee. The three of us were just eating, but I must’ve been staring too much,”

“She can’t do anything, it’s not like you two are together,” Zuko said this as he turned his head, nodding off to sleep as Mai did the same. 

The next day Azula had proved to be more of an issue than Zuko had originally thought. Of course Azula was always a threat, but he hadn’t expected her to mention the topic to their Father.

The family sat at the long dinner table, Azula cutting into her meat as she spoke, voice playfully innocent, “Father, I wasn’t able to attend the trial, but what was the outcome of the servant boy who was accused of homosexuality recently? Just curious,”

Zuko felt his eyes open wide, fear written all over his face as Azula took a huge bite out of her steak, staring at him with no hint of guilt.

Ozai frowned at the topic, “I believe this was not his first time being accused, so it was decided that it would be best to execute him,”

“Probably the best decision, what happens if they are royalty? I’ve never seen a royal accused,” Azula’s tone was playful as if this was an amusing topic.

“You haven’t seen one because we all know our duties. If for some reason someone royal were to act on homosexual desires we’d execute, no questions asked. It is the most shameful thing you could do to the family,” Ozai paused, pushing the steak into his mouth and chewing, “With commonfolk it’s more difficult to keep on eye on them, but for people in our own family...not so much,”

“Zuzu, don’t look so shocked, eat up or your food will get cold,” Azula cooed. 

Zuko didn’t talk once after that. The entire dinner he stayed silent, pushing around the food on his plate until he was finally excused. 

Nothing was right and Zuko was not going to standby anymore as his father talked about execution like it was the weather or as he heard plans to kill in war meetings, or even when his own sister had threatened him. Zuko was terrified and he was leaving as soon as possible.

* * *

That night Zuko had gone to the cells, following the familiar path to his uncle’s cell. It was colder than usual, making Zuko shiver for a moment before breathing fire, looking around the stone hall.

He was going to apologize and take his uncle with him, Zuko had decided that what he had dreamed about his entire life had been entirely wrong and now he wanted to fix it in any way he could, but as he stood in the entryway of the door he froze, unable to move.

Iroh’s cell was empty. A guard made their way to the cell, frowning when she spoke, “He escaped last night. We are trying our best to search for him sir, we have already informed your Father,”

Zuko didn’t speak. He had only walked slowly back to his chambers, hopeful that his uncle would be alright. He would make a plan, soon he’d leave this place. Zuko couldn’t stay here forever.

The guard relaxed her shoulders as soon as the young prince was out of sight, taking a deep breath of relief. Ming was never good at lying, but she hadn’t exactly been completely lying this time either. 

Her steps rang throughout the dungeon area, running a hand through her hair as she remembered the night before. The guard wasn’t sure what brought it in her, but for some reason she had decided that the prisoner needed to be let go, now. Ming had been thinking about it ever since she first saw the old man again, years changing his appearance only slightly, a few more wrinkles and a few more grey hairs, but it was still easily the same man that she had remembered from her childhood. 

At first she had decided just to be kind to him, to repay him for the kindness that he had given her before, so she did exactly that. Ming was the only guard that respected him and treated him like an actual person, which Iroh seemed to appreciate. As she saw him everyday it proved to not be enough though, watching the old man seemly waste away was too much for her.

“Do you remember me?” her voice was cautious, as if someone might be listening in on them.

“Of course I do, you see me everyday,” Iroh said this as he looked around the room, as if he was checking for any listeners as well. Once the old man was satisfied that no one was listening in he spoke again, “You don’t owe me anything, I only did what I should have.”

Iroh had done more than Ming had ever seen anyone do for someone like her, saving her from death with only his word. She had been so foolish to kiss her soulmate with the wind blowing through an open window, their best friend seeing it all before reporting it immediately. Only a day had passed before the two were dragged to the middle of town square, accusations being thrown at them. Ming had denied it, as any sane person would do, but no one believed her.

She was going to die. There was going to be no trail, this was too fast for there to be a trial. 

The crowd suddenly went silent as a royal man stepped into the crowded area, people moving aside as he grasped the situation, a cup of tea in his hands.

“I’ll take it from here,” his tone was serious, as if he threatened anyone to argue with him, “Go.”

With that everyone dispersed and went back to their day, going back to tend to their shops and buy their goods, leaving the soldiers speechless as they held onto the two teen girls.

“I said I’ll take care of this. Or do I need to talk to your supervisor?”

“No sir,” the men said in unison, leaving immediately.

Iroh walked calmly towards the two girls, bending down as he whispered in a volume only the two could hear, “You need to be more careful, follow me,”

Once they were brought to a secluded space Iroh only nodded, waving before walking away, not saying another word.

Ming brought her attention back to the present, shaking her head at the old man in chains across from her. She moved towards the cell, unlocking it and unlocking his chains, watching them fall to the ground, “You saved me,”

“How is the other girl?” Iroh asked, complete care in his voice, as if he had no concern for himself or the fact that he was being set free.

Ming had tears in his eyes when she walked away, leaving the doors open, “She’s sleeping at home peacefully,”

* * *

Zuko had thought about just escaping and living in hiding again, not being involved in any way with the war or the nations. It would’ve been easier for him and probably better for his own sanity, but the more the teen thought about it the more he felt a need to help somehow instead of just disappearing. 

The fire nation was smart and had a plan for any attacks during the black sun, knowing it left their benders vulnerable and open for attack. It was the one day a year where no fire bender had the ability to bend for some time, which left a perfect opening for attacks. They were prepared though. 

Zuko knew that the Avatar had to be alive and he also knew that if the group were to show up to attack the fire nation this would be the perfect day. So, Zuko took the chance and waited until the day of the black sun. 

It was difficult pretending that he wasn’t planning to leave, pretending to be happy as he listened to the meetings, pretending he wasn’t scared for his life as he listened to Mai talk about nothing important. 

By the time the black sun came around Zuko was completely exhausted emotionally. Still he kept to his plan. 

When Ozai had directed a lightning bolt to Zuko once their bending was back Zuko was not surprised. He wished he would’ve been, wished that this would’ve come as a huge shock to him, but instead he accepted the action as it was and redirected the lightning thanks to his uncle’s teachings. 

Iroh had taught him many things, all of good use, but mostly he had taught Zuko what was actually right, even if he hadn’t realized it. Ozai only taught Zuko hardship and fear.

The invasion didn’t go as the group had planned, losing horribly to the fire nation and retreating. They had no idea that Zuko had decided to follow them. The teen was going to do something right for once, he was set on teaching the Avatar fire bending.

One thing made him stop in his tracks though,  _ Jet. _ How Jet had ended up with the group Zuko had no idea, but it was obvious he was staying awhile. Everything just got a lot more complicated and Zuko debated just giving up, but instead he camped close by as the group went to sleep.

Early morning the next day Zuko was wide awake, going over what he was going to say about a million times. Though, none of the speeches seemed to work or make any sense. It was nerve wracking, how were you supposed to tell a group of people you had been trying to kill that you were on their side now?

Zuko gave up and with a stroke of unwarranted confidence he appeared in front of the group, waving innocently as they all prepared their weapons, “Hi, Zuko here.” 

He had never been good at introductions and by the reactions from the group he was sure he hadn’t gotten any better over the years.

Yells could be heard from all of the group, but the one word that Zuko could make out was from Jet.

“Lee?”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jet continues being the literal worst and Zuko just wants to help the Gaang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who helped out as always! <3

Sokka may have not been a bender like most of the people surrounding him nowadays, nor was he the avatar, or a kyoshi warrior. He was average in swordsmanship and could provide some decent plans, but that was it in combat abilities. Sokka didn’t lack confidence in himself, but he was not delusional, compared to the teens around him he was just...average. 

One thing that the teen was above average in, was reading people, though despite being isolated most of his childhood he had always had a good understanding of people and their feelings. Sokka knew when someone wasn’t being genuine, whether or not that be a lie or an entire fake personality. Toph knew when people were lying, but not everyone always completely lied when they were being fake. That’s why Sokka had hated Jet so much at first.

The arrogant teen had acted like he was fighting for the people, providing some justice and fighting for those who couldn’t fight, but there had always been something hidden behind those words. Sokka would’ve just let it go if Jet had just been arrogant, but Jet had gone out of his way to charm people and for some reason it worked. Jet was selfish, but he acted like he was selfless just to make himself look justified for his actions.

When Jet had almost killed those innocent civilians the water tribe boy knew that something was most definitely wrong with the rebel teen. The group had cut him off, which had been a good decision, but Sokka couldn’t shake an uncomfortable nervousness in his stomach. Whenever Sokka thought about the other teen it had left his mouth dry, his stomach queasy, and his mood sour. 

Sokka could never explain it, but that worry had never left him, even when the group had not seen Jet in months. 

When the group had taken in the injured teen Sokka was furious, but eventually his empathy outweighed his worry. No matter how much Sokka didn’t like the boy, he didn't want him to die, especially when he was so young. Jet could’ve changed in the time the group had spent apart as well as he still could grow from this, so Sokka kept quiet and tried to give the teen the benefit of the doubt.

Sokka had ignored the worry he felt, had ignored the arrogant attitude, and had even ignored when the teen had not been genuine in his actions. Sokka could mostly just be civil with the prick and avoid being alone with him, but when Jet had mentioned his soulmate, well that’s when Sokka had drawn the line. 

For some reason the two teens had been sent to gather firewood, which had left the pair alone much to Sokka’s dismay. At first not much was said, but Jet seemed to hate silence. 

“You know for a bit I thought you’d never end up with even getting a kiss from a girl, but Suki, huh?” Jet said this with a casual tone, but there was an underlying tone of arrogance within his words.

Sokka didn’t know how to respond, pausing as he grabbed a piece of wood. For a second he had debated smacking the teen in the head with it, “Do you have a point?”

“It’s just you don’t have a charming personality is all,” 

“Are you trying to start a fight?” Sokka dropped the firewood in his hands, his fists clenched. 

Jet’s hands waved in the air as soon as he heard the anger coming from the other, “No, no, of course not! I’m just curious about it all. How far have you gone with her?”

Sokka took a deep breath, annoyed by the topic, but giving Jet the benefit of the doubt despite it all. Maybe this was just his way of trying to talk to Sokka?

“It’s not your business. It’s private between her and I,” Sokka’s cheeks felt hot, but he ignored the feeling, bending down to pick up the firewood he had thrown down only seconds before.

“So not very far then,”

Sokka glared at the boy beside him, Jet’s hands were in the air once again in a flash, “Not an attack! Take your time man, hell maybe it’s even better to take things slow,”

“What do you mean?”

Jet’s voice went down in volume, speaking in a hushed tone for a second before abandoning his fake care for privacy, “People go crazy after hooking up, I swear. There was this one guy-”

Sokka interrupted, “Guy?”

He had never met anyone else that liked the same sex, or at least that he knew of.

‘Oh, yeah, I’m bisexual, is that a problem?” Jet’s tone suddenly got defensive, his arms crossed as the pair continued walking back towards the campsite.

Sokka shook his head, “No, no! I’m the same way, it’s just I’ve never heard anyone else say,” he closed his mouth, abandoning trying to explain himself and just shrugging.

“You’ve been isolated, trust me there are more people like us,” Jet readjusted the firewood in his hands, “Anyway, there was this guy back in Ba Sing Se who was just so weird. It was obvious that I made him nervous, his face got so red whenever I got close, but when I had finally made a move he acted like he didn’t want that at all. I knew that was an act though and despite his huge scar he was actually pretty hot, so we ended up hooking up.”

Despite the way Jet was talking about the encounter it left Sokka with a sinking feeling in his gut, sensing a hidden meaning behind those words. Had the boy been against doing that with Jet? It sure sounded like it, but with the way Jet was speaking, he made it confusing to even tell how the whole scene had unfolded. 

“After that he kept switching back and forth between wanting me and not, it was ridiculously annoying. He had a soulmate that he wasn’t even with, but he still reminded me of the guy every time he fought with me. He never even told me what that huge ugly scar on his face was even from, if he had maybe we could’ve used it to our advantage somehow against the fire benders-”

“Scar?” 

“Oh yeah, big ugly one on his face. Covering an eye and a good half of his face on that side, without the scar he might’ve been a ten. Pale with dark black hair, like most fire nation people I’ve seen actually, but with the plus of not being fire nation,” 

The first thing that ran through Sokka’s mind was just how disrespectful Jet was being to his...ex? It was like Jet had seen the boy as an object more than anything else, rating the boy and insulting a scar he had no control over. That alone had made his blood boil, but the more he thought about it the more he felt his own heart rate speed up, taking deep breaths as anger made his own hands shake.

It was Zuko. The stranger that Jet was insulting casually, that Jet had slept with, that Jet was bragging about, that stranger had been Sokka’s own soulmate. Suddenly everything made sense, Zuko’s disappearance, the shame and guilt, Sokka’s cheeks turning red for no reason, and the confusion he felt almost everyday from his soulmate. It all made sense.

The two had reached the edge of the camp by the time Sokka stopped, throwing down his firewood and grabbing Jet by the collar of his worn out shirt, “Don’t you ever talk about him like that ever again, got it?”

Sokka couldn’t describe why he was so angry. Zuko had tried to murder him, they weren’t friends and he had no right to be jealous. But Jet had been talking like Zuko was just another checklist, as if he was a damaged item that had only annoyed him. On top of that how Jet had described them even getting together...it hadn’t sat well with Sokka.

Before Jet could even get a word out Sokka felt a hand pull him back, a slight push, not enough force to actually do anything, but enough to let Sokka know it was time to let go. 

“What’s going on?” Aang sounded concerned, wanting to reach some sort of understanding between the two.

“Apparently Jet charms everyone!” Sokka shouted, staring at the now confused teen.

“Sokka you have to be more specific, “ this time Katara was the one who spoke, annoyance clear in her voice.

“First my little sister, then my soulmate, what’s next? Aang? Toph? Momo? Hell, what about Appa?” 

“I don’t like Jet like that,” Aang said, confusion clear in his voice.

Toph had only waved her hand, ignoring the conversation all together as she walked to the other end of the camp.

“Oh, don’t be so sure Aang! You’re still young, just wait,”

“Sokka what are you talking about?” this time Jet spoke, just wanting Sokka to get to the point already.

“I’m saying that guy you were talking about was my soulmate! My. Soulmate.” Sokka put emphasis on the last two words, repeating them for extra measure as he stared at Jet.

“Wait, Zuko? Are you saying Zuko and Jet got together Sokka? What kind of ridiculous-” 

Aang put his hand up, stopping Katara in her tracks, “Wait, we can’t just dismiss what Sokka is saying. Soulmates would know, right?”

“I don’t know,” Katara said, her face suddenly heating up for a reason beyond Sokka.

“What did he look like?” Aang turned towards Jet, his expression neutral now.

“As I told him, a huge ugly scar on the side of his face, pale, dark black hair,”

“Was he with anyone?”

“He lived with some old man, I think he said he was his uncle,”

“That’s Zuko,” Katara said this with a huff, her tone still annoyed.

“Zuko? His name is Lee,” Jet said this with confidence, knowing the two names were definitely not similar at all.

“He lied,” Sokka said this, shaking his head as he curled his fists in anger.

Jet opened his mouth to speak, but Aang’s hands were up before a word was uttered, turning his attention towards Sokka, “What did he say?”

“He was insulting him! He couldn’t even respect him after he bragged about them-” suddenly his throat felt dry, a lump forming as he couldn’t even finish his sentence. He wanted to throw up.

“Look, I’m sorry if sleeping with your soulmate you don’t even talk to upsets you, but how was I supposed to know? Besides, aren’t you and Suki together, how is that any different?”

Sokka couldn’t speak. He couldn’t even form a cognitive thought, the only thing on his mind being how much he wanted to punch the teen across from him. 

Jet continued on, “I don’t even understand what the fuck you guys are talking about when you call him Zuko, like come on how is any of this my fault?”

Sokka couldn’t remember any final decision to hit the other, but before he realized it his fist had connected with Jet’s face, hitting the other hard before another word left his mouth. It all happened so fast, that Sokka didn’t register the shouting that came next, only stopping once he was pulled off of the arrogant teen, Katara shouting as she dragged him forcefully by the back of his shirt. 

After that Jet and Sokka barely spoke and they were never sent on any task alone. Although Sokka would’ve preferred Jet leaving, Aang had insisted on having a vote. It had ended up with a tie, both Toph and Sokka voting that Jet leave while Katara and Aang voted on giving the teen another chance.

Jet and Sokka agreed to not speak to each other barely at all and Zuko was never brought up between the pair again, only glaring at each other silently whenever they got the chance.

* * *

It was an understatement to say that Sokka did not expect Zuko to show up unarmed and nervous as the group suffered from a massive failure. Sokka had not expected Zuko to show up at all, armed or not. 

Zuko had tried to kill the group before and now he stood before them, waving as he said an awkward greeting. Sokka had raised his boomerang on instinct, watching as the rest of the group prepared for some sort of fight. Only Jet stood casually, confusion more than anything else all over his features. 

“Lee?” 

Sokka could feel Zuko’s embarrassment as well as tell by just the look on his soulmate's face that he had no idea how to deal with this situation at all.

Zuko opened his mouth to speak, but Katara spoke her voice demanding before the teen had a chance to say a syllable, “What do you want?”

“I’m not here to fight, okay? I just,” Zuko paused, putting his hands up, “I think I can help,”

“You? Help how?” Katara demanded again, being the most vocal about her distrust for the dark haired teen. 

“Aang needs a fire bending teacher right? He hasn’t mastered fire bending, I haven’t seen him use it once not in the avatar state, “ Zuko’s voice wavered, but he continued, “I can teach him,”

“Why would you teach him?” Sokka spoke this time, his voice calmer than his sister’s.

“I want you to win,”

Sokka had opened his mouth to speak, finding that Zuko’s words were entirely truthful, but Jet bet him to it, “Fire bender? You’re a fire bender!” Jet shouted, anger clear in his tone.

Zuko’s hands stayed up, “Yes, fire nation prince, actually,” he shook his head in frustration this all obviously being too much for him to handle, “Look, I’m sorry for lying to you, it’s one of the many things I’ve done wrong,”

Sokka could see the exact moment that Jet had lost his control, the shade of his eyes growing darker as his eyes narrowed at the frustrated prince. Jet hadn’t even answered before he was lunging at Zuko, weapon ready in an instint.

Everyone was angry, everyone was tired, Sokka understood the hostility everyone had, but he could not allow Jet to hurt Zuko, especially when Zuko had so obviously been telling the truth, no malence behind his words.

Sokka was between the pair within a second, shooving Jet back forcefully, “Stay back Jet,” the water tribe boy’s tone was deathly serious, staring at the pissed off boy across from him.

“He’s a fire bender! You can’t be serious! Listen, I don’t care about your soulmate bullshit!” Jet was screaming now, a jab hitting Sokka forcefully in his side.

It was Toph who stopped it all, a solid wall of rock separating the two fighting teens in an instant, “He wants to help us, let twinkle toes decide before you try to murder the boy,” her tone was angry and oddly serious, more serious than Sokka had ever heard the blind girl speak.

“I need to think,” Aang said this with a sigh, feeling the tension in the air from him even considering allowing the fire bender into the group.

“No you don’t!” Katara shouted this time, never being shy about her sour feelings towards Zuko, but her voice grew softer right after her outburst, trying to reason with Aang, “We can do this without him of all people, think about it- how many times has he tried to kill us?”

“We just lost, Katara! I need a fire bending teacher, who is gonna teach me?” Aang groaned, obviously frustrated at the entire situation.

Katara went silent.

* * *

The group had decided that it would be best for Zuko to camp out on his own for the night at the very least while they figured out if they would allow the fire bender to teach Aang fire bending, which Zuko made no complaints about, only telling them to let him know their decision when they were done. 

There was a major issue with this plan so far though; it had been hours and the group had made no progress. 

“He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted us to win,” Toph said this for what seemed like the millionth time, shrugging when she continued, “Heart rate didn’t match up with lying.”

“He seemed pretty truthful before he betrayed his uncle and worked with Azula! I almost healed his scar, Azula almost killed Aang!” Katara was frustrated, the anger never leaving her voice throughout this entire discussion.

“I could feel his emotions Katara. He was nervous and overwhelmed, but he was being honest. He wants to help,” Sokka spoke up this time, feeling like no matter what he said his sister would never listen.

Katara let out a groan, throwing her hands in the air, “He lies!”

Jet was quick to agree, “Of course he does! He’s a fire bender, all they do is lie. He lied to me for months! We can’t trust him, I can’t believe you are letting him camp around here,”

“I need a teacher,” Aang sounded exhausted, his eyes tired.

“There are other fire benders,” Katara offered.

“Katara we don’t have time for that. Here we have one, offering to help us and you are all ignoring the only two people here who can know for sure if he is lying! I know how he is feeling, I’d know if he is lying! He’s scared more than anything!” Sokka stood up, frustrated by the never ending argument.

“Sokka no offense but I am not trusting your bullshit soulmate feelings,” Jet interrupted, not even allowing Katara to answer.

“Okay, you all talk about this all night then! We need him to win, Aang, remember that,” Sokka threw his hands in the air, groaning as he stormed away from the campsite, seeing the fire fade the farther he went.

He hadn’t been planning to find Zuko at first, but the more he was left without distractions the more Sokka could feel his soulmate’s anxiety and frustration. For a reason unknown to him entirely, Sokka found himself looking for signs of another campsite near the group, eventually seeing smoke not too far away.

The fire was the first thing Sokka saw, his feet moving without much thought to the source of light. It only took a minute for Sokka to see Zuko’s face, standing behind a tree as he made sure it was actually Zuko and not some stranger.

Sokka should’ve considered that Zuko would be on edge with the events that had happened that day, but he had ignored the possibility of danger as he walked forward with no warning, “Zuko-”

His eyes widened as a familiar pain was felt on his arm, immediately falling back onto the ground and staring at the bright burn on his forearm. Sokka was sure he let out some sort of cry of pain, but it was only an instant reaction, moving back as far as possible as he stared at the teen.

It was not a new feeling. Thanks to Zuko he had felt burns more than once, but what was new was the sight before him.

Zuko’s face was full of panic, twisting uncomfortably in a mixture of pain and fear. He held onto his own forearm tightly, a red burn mark marking the very same spot that he had struck Sokka. This was the first time that Sokka had actually seen Zuko in pain and it had only made his own pain a million times worse.

“Sokka, I’m so sorry, fuck, “ Zuko’s voice wavered, wincing as he tried to ramble on, “Spirits I’m such a idiot, you scared me. I promise it wasn't on purpose, I don’t want to do that to you guys, I swear, “

Zuko was panicking, scrambling for words to make the situation better, but Sokka could feel the teen already felt it was hopeless, “Please, believe me,”

“I believe you,” Sokka said this calmly, knowing with certainty that Zuko hadn’t actually meant to hurt him, “It’s okay,”

Sokka slowly stood up, taking a deep breath as he held onto his arm, moving to sit next to Zuko, “Do you have anything to help with this?” he raised his arm, gesturing to the angry looking burn.

Zuko’s features relaxed a bit, pain still obviously there, but the panic gone now as he nodded, “Always,”

A rag was pulled out of a small bag in a matter of seconds, a canteen following it only moments after. Zuko wasted no time as he dumped some water onto the rag, dampening it as he gestured for Sokka to hold out his arm, “Just hold this on there for a bit, I have cream for after,” Zuko set the rag down onto the bright burn gently, holding it there himself for a few moments before letting go, allowing Sokka to hold the rag himself.

The one thing that stood out to Sokka the most was just how used to this Zuko seemed. Sokka didn’t believe that Zuko regularly burned people, but rather he believed the teen usually was the one to suffer from the burns. Zuko was obviously in pain, but yet he sat in silence, focusing on Sokka instead and rushing through his movements as he had searched through his bag. Zuko had been prepared, even with burning cream to help with healing. Of course Sokka had known that the teen had suffered many burns throughout the years; he could feel them all, but this was the first time he saw first hand just how used to the burns the teen had become. 

It was heartbreaking.

“Do you have another rag? You’re burnt too,” 

“No, only one, “ Zuko shook his head as he continued to speak, “Mine won’t last as long as yours, it’s okay,” another pause, a deep breath, “I did that to you anyway.”

“You didn’t mean to,” Sokka spoke reassuringly, not even sure why he was trying to console Zuko.

“But I did anyway, “ Zuko turned his head towards Sokka, looking down and frowning at the rag.

By the time Sokka blinked his arm was back in Zuko’s hands, his own hand being pushed away as Zuko held the rag in place, “If you hold it like that it won’t do anything, just let me,” 

Sokka wanted to say that he could hold a rag himself, but for some reason the words never left his mouth, only staring at the guilt ridden prince.

The two sat in silence for what seemed like forever, eventually Zuko letting go and finding a small container of burn cream, passing it onto Sokka as he took the rag, setting it on his own burn, his face relaxing as soon as the cold rag hit his skin, pain being relieved at least some.

Sokka opened the small container, applying the cream as he spoke, “Do you usually get that easily scared?”

He should’ve been asking him about why he wanted to help Aang or why he had a change of heart, but instead he found himself wanting to know more personal details. Sokka was mostly just concerned, especially since just saying Zuko’s name had scared the teen enough for him to burn Sokka.

“I’m sorry, like I said I won’t do that again,” Zuko answered, taking the question the entirely wrong way.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” Sokka turned sideways, placing the lid back on the cream and focusing on Zuko fully, “I mean, is this just because of Jet trying to attack you earlier? Or because of the day? Or is this normal? Is this something we’d have to be considerate about if you were to be around us,”

Zuko looked taken aback, his face twisting in something unrecognizable. It was obvious no one asked Zuko about these things often if at all, “It’s normal. I’ll work on it,”

Sokka shook his head, “No, I’m not asking you to work on it,” he paused, taking a deep breath and trying to focus on what exactly the teen across from him was feeling, “I’m asking so that I can let the others know. So that way no one else gets hurt and so that way you are more comfortable,”

“You’re acting like you guys will accept me,”

“Aang needs a teacher no matter what they say, we all know it. Trust me, they’ll get over it by tomorrow, at least enough to let you teach him,” Sokka spoke as if this was simply a fact, no doubt in his mind now, “Besides, I trust you.”

A look of relief washed over Zuko’s features, letting his back rest on the log behind the pair. Sokka hadn’t felt the need to start anymore conversation, as far as he could tell both of them were exhausted and silence was better than the bickering that was going on back at his own campsite. More time must’ve passed by then Sokka had realized because before he knew it he felt a gentle pressure on his shoulder.

Sokka had known that Zuko was tired, but he hadn’t expected the teen to fall asleep so quickly or have his head resting on Sokka’s shoulder. It wasn’t uncomfortable for the water tribe boy though, only adjusting himself slightly as he made sure not to disturb his soulmate. 

Zuko was not his friend. Zuko was not his anything really, but as he looked at the sleeping teen’s peaceful features he realized for the first time just how much he cared for the other. 

He couldn’t move, but only because he knew Zuko probably hadn’t been getting much sleep to begin with. Sokka had never seen Zuko look so...relaxed and considering Zuko had burned him from fear with Sokka making himself known a little too suddenly for the other, well he assumed Zuko was barely ever relaxed. 

It only took less than an hour for Sokka to follow in Zuko’s footsteps, his own head falling on top of Sokka’s, finally giving up to his exhaustion. 

* * *

Aang didn’t know what to do. Well, he knew what he  _ should _ do, which was accept the offer Zuko had made. He needed a fire bending teacher; that much was evident by the group's huge failure just days before, but it was difficult to forget all of the harm Zuko had caused for the group beforehand. 

Katara was unwilling to even accept the idea that Sokka was Zuko’s soulmate, why would she allow Zuko to be around her brother? And then there was the issue with Jet.  _ Jet. _ Aang had no major issues with Jet, especially since the teen had stopped hitting on Katara, but he definitely made conflict an everyday occurrence within the group. And Jet  _ hated _ fire benders. What if he tried to kill Zuko again?

“I can’t let him near my brother!” Katara said this with a slam of her fist on the ground, frustration never leaving her voice throughout this entire long argument. 

“You can’t keep them apart,” Aang frowned, knowing the monks would want to do everything in their power to help the two soulmates.

“Like hell I can’t, Aang! He will hurt him, I just know it,” something changed in Katara’s voice then, her tone growing concerned rather than angry. 

Aang had left the group soon after that, saying he was going to find Sokka before they all went to sleep. The conversation was going nowhere and honestly he just needed to rest.

The first place Aang found himself wandering to was the campsite Zuko had made, seeing the light from the fire within less than five minutes. Knowing Sokka, he would’ve tried to talk to Zuko rather than be completely alone.

Aang was right, the two were found in less than a minute. He expected it, but what he did not expect was to see the two sleeping next to each other, Zuko’s head on Sokka’s shoulder and Sokka’s head on the top of Zuko’s, completely relaxed.

The Avatar had no worries about Zuko being a danger now, a small smile making its way to his lips as he left the campsite, finding everyone in their sleeping bags.

It was Katara who spoke first, “Weren’t you finding Sokka?”

Aang crawled into his sleeping bag, keeping his voice low as he spoke, “I did, he’s safe, “ he shifted in his sleeping bag, closing his eyes as he spoke, “I’m going to let Zuko teach me, I trust him,”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko agrees to a plan without thinking it through and Mai saves the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was super difficult for me to write for some reason, but it's finally here! It's also longer than usual, so I hope ya'll like it. Also as I said before this is where things drift from cannon, so just a warning that things are gonna start drifting! Thanks to anyone who helped as always. <3

Being on the good side of things was difficult, especially when everyone barely tolerated Zuko at best and his fire bending hadn’t been doing well. It wasn’t as if Zuko had expected the group to like him, hell he was surprised when Aang had come over to his campsite and woke up the two sleeping teens. Zuko was embarrassed that he had been so exhausted that he fell asleep on Sokka’s shoulder, and he was even more confused as to why Sokka hadn’t thrown him off and instead stayed the entire night. Aang looked more relaxed than he had the day before, saying that he had decided to allow Zuko tag along and teach him fire bending.

The issue was that Zuko could barely produce a sizable flame himself. 

Sweat dripped off his brows as he tried the most basic fire bending form for what must’ve been the millionth time that day, using all of his force to only produce a puff of fire. Aang hadn’t bothered him too much about it, but it was obvious that everyone was growing annoyed. If he couldn’t fire bend himself, how was he supposed to teach the Avatar? If he was not able to teach Aang how was he useful? 

Katara had rolled her eyes more times than Zuko could count and Jet had made comments about him not knowing Zuko was a fire bender because ‘he was so shit at it’, Aang had only tried to learn, confusion clear on his face as he tried his best to follow through with the movements that weren’t even working for Zuko. Toph didn’t involve herself much, only making jokes about how his fire looked just fine, despite the fact that  _ she couldn’t even see it.  _ Sokka only fought with Jet, oddly defensive despite Zuko not talking to him much since that night when he burned him.

Zuko was close to being completely useless and he knew it, but he had no idea how to fix it. No matter how many nights he spent practicing his forms alone, it did nothing. Zuko had never been naturally gifted at bending, unlike Azula he wasn’t a prodigy, but he was still able to fight decently with it, so why couldn’t he produce more than a spark? 

The sun would be up soon and despite his lack of progress, Zuko fell back onto the ground, sinking into the soft grass as his chest heaved.  __

He didn’t expect Sokka to take a seat next to him, movements slow as he announced his presence, it was considerate, which Zuko wasn’t used to, “I can’t sleep if you’re doing this all night, what is this the fifth night?” Sokka’s words were playful, but his tone seemed so distant.

“Sorry, I’m just frustrated, need to be useful at some point,” Zuko sighed into the words, controlling his breathing.

Sokka opened his mouth to speak, but when Zuko looked over to the boy his mouth closed, apparently deciding against whatever he was going to say and instead bringing his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs, “It’s fine I can’t sleep anyway, practice all you want jerk bender,” 

“I’m done, “ Zuko could feel something on Sokka’s mind, but he had never been good at conversation, or dealing with people in general, so what he had intended to come off as a kind concerned gesture ending up sounding off, “Tell me about it,” a cough, “Actually for real tell me about it. I, uh, can feel it, sorry,”

Sokka wasn’t phased at all by Zuko’s awful social skills, “I’ve been fighting with Katara all day,”

So that’s why the siblings had been gone for half the day.

Sokka continued, “We always fight really, but it’s usual sibling stuff, ya know?”

“I don’t think I do know,” Zuko admitted, knowing full well that Azula and his relationship was nothing like the two water tribe siblings.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot, psychotic sister, sorry, “ Sokka took a deep breath, looking up to the stars as if he was lost in thought.

A few minutes passed just like that, the two teens sitting in silence as they stared at the stars.

It was Zuko who ended up breaking the silence, “What was different about this fight? What was it about? Unless you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay-”

“You,”

The fire nation prince frowned, knowing that Katara had not warmed up to him in the slightest, “Was there a particular reason?”

“Not really. She saw me putting the cream you gave me on the burn from when you first came here, which I don’t blame you at all for, promise. The cream is actually working really well too, but,” Sokka bit his lip, falling back into the grass, “I don’t know, it just set her off.”

“I really didn’t mean to-”

“I know, I know and she knows that too. I think she is just uneasy, especially since you haven’t been the best with bending recently,”

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Zuko groaned, frustrated just by the mention of his bending.

“Aang thinks it has to do with anger. Like, maybe you don’t have enough anger anymore? Did you use anger before?”

“I don’t want to rely on that anymore,”

Sokka nodded, not exactly wanting Zuko to be pissed all the time just so that he could bend, “Maybe find the source. There has to be some way to bend without anger, right?”

* * *

It had been weeks since Sokka had first proposed the idea of finding the source for fire bending. Zuko had eventually given up in his frustration and brought the issue to the group, even with all of their mixed opinions of him. It was then that Aang had mentioned being taught that air bending came from flying bison and Toph had said earth bending came from badger moles.

There had been one issue though when Zuko thought about the origin of fire bending; dragons were extinct, thanks to his grandfather.

Seeing as the only options were either getting his bending back or finding Aang a new teacher the group thought about solutions for awhile, eventually remembering an ancient civilization that could help. Zuko never expected that he’d be dancing with dragons next to Aang, but life had never gone how he had expected. 

Within a day his bending was back to full force, giving him the skills to actually teach the Avatar. 

Jet stopped making loud comments during practice and Katara kept to herself, Toph still made jokes at his expense, but it seemed that was just her personality.

One thing didn’t change though; his inability to get sleep.

Even without practicing till dawn he still stayed up the majority of the night, often somewhere between being conscious and being half asleep. Zuko thought that the nightmares would get better once he left the palace, but that proved to be false hope as Zuko sprung up from his sleeping bag, sweat soaking his hair as his chest heaved.

He couldn’t sleep after that, so the prince found himself climbing out of his sleeping bag. Zuko’s plan had been to lay on the lush grass and stare at the stars, but as soon as he left the circle of sleeping bags he noticed something was off. 

Sokka wasn’t there.

At first Zuko felt some sort of panic that he couldn’t begin to explain, but it only lasted for a moment before he assured himself that he would’ve felt something if Sokka had been in trouble. 

When Zuko found Sokka slinging bag over Appa he wasn’t exactly surprised, just confused, “What are you doing?”

Sokka froze, his face twisting as he spoke, his words rambling, “I’m going to Boiling Rock. I have to save my dad,”

“I didn’t tell you where he was so that you could go on a suicide mission,” Zuko silently cursed himself for giving in when the teen had asked exactly where his dad would be, “Sokka I know he means a lot to you, but-”

“You can’t change my mind, just tell everyone I went fishing or something,”

“We can leave a note, I’m coming with you,”

* * *

Zuko had no idea what possessed him to take a boy he only had a handful of conversations with to go break a war criminal out of prison, but somehow he was up in the air in a hot air balloon, controlling the fire with fire bending as Sokka stared out the side of the aircraft. Truthfully Zuko should’ve thought of a plan, but he hadn’t at all. The closest he had thought of to a plan had been to convince the teen to use the balloon instead of Appa.

“Do you have a plan?” Zuko broke the silence, watching the sun rise.

“I thought you would,” Sokka turned his head, attention fully on Zuko, “Isn’t that why you came along?”

Zuko didn’t want to admit that the reason he came along was because he couldn’t bear the thought of losing the water tribe boy. It made no sense, soulmate or not the two barely really knew each other, but Zuko felt  _ like they knew each other  _ and that was the tough part. Also considering he had been the only one who was entirely nice to him in the group, cracking jokes that weren’t at Zuko’s expense. Toph meant well, but her jokes had made Zuko self conscious more than he’d like to admit. While Katara and Jet just hated his guts and Aang only dealt with him because he was a goddamn pacifist who needed a fire bending teacher.

So instead he settled with a small jab, “If you didn’t have a plan that’s even more reason for me to come along,” he shrugged, lying through his teeth, even though there really was no point, “I knew you probably had no plan.”

Sokka rolled his eyes, “Okay, number one you didn’t because that’s a lie. Number two,” he turned his body to face Zuko fully, pointing a finger at him, “You can’t insult me for not having a plan if you don’t either jerk bender,”

Zuko felt his cheeks heat up, but ignored it the best he could as he turned his attention towards the fire, “Alright, point taken,”

It only took a minute for Sokka to apparently get tired of the silence as he spoke again, this time his head resting in his palm as he had continued to look at the rising sun, “I might have a rough plan,”

“I’m listening,”

“We need to get hold of guards' outfits. Really we just need to impersonate guards, can’t be too hard can it?”

It would be hard, nothing about this was going to be easy since it was literally the most heavily guarded prison in the fire nation, but Zuko didn’t see a better option, “Any plan is better than no plan, let’s do that,”

The fire nation prince had never been good at holding conversations with people, so this long ride with a boy he was supposedly destined to fall in love with was hell. Every few seconds he would panic that he hadn’t been talking, wondering if he was making this awkward for Sokka. Unlike Zuko, Sokka seemed to love conversation. Would riding in silence be annoying to him? But, every time Zuko would try to open his mouth to start up a conversation his mind went blank. What was he supposed to talk about? 

“Zuko, I can feel you panicking,” Sokka turned his head towards Zuko, raising an eyebrow at the flustered teen.

“Oh, sorry. I just-” he paused, sighing as he went to stand next to Sokka, deciding the fire was good for now, “I’m just awkward as hell and you aren’t, so I don’t know how to have an actual conversation or even know what to talk about with you,” the words came out in a rambling mess, but Zuko was trying at least.

For some reason Sokka smiled, “I’d say you could ask about my day, but so far you’ve been part of my day,” he paused, keeping eye contact with Zuko as he seemed deep in thought, “You could always ask a question. Might as well know each other a little.”

It was a simple suggestion, but for some reason it sent Zuko’s mind in a million directions at once. What was he allowed to ask? If Sokka was anything like Zuko he had to have topics to avoid, but if he didn’t know them how could he avoid them-

“Do you believe in the whole soulmate thing?” for some reason that was what came out of his mouth, and as soon as the question left his lips, Zuko regretted it.

Zuko expected Sokka to be awkward or to get defensive or annoyed, but for some reason it seemed the question relaxed him a bit, “I do,” for a moment his face twisted as if he wasn’t sure if he should continue, but he did anyway, “Not to like, I don’t know, pressure you? It’s just I’ve cared about people a lot, but something is always missing. It’s a weird feeling, besides if I can literally feel your pain and emotions that must mean something, soulmate or not,”

“Like who?” Zuko cleared his throat, feeling an odd heaviness in his chest, “Like, who did you care about a lot?”

“A girl that was named Yue and then Suki still,”

“Was? Is she-” 

Sokka interrupted him, “Yes, she’s not here anymore. I guess, she literally turned into the moon? I don’t know it’s weird, my first girlfriend turned into the moon,”

Zuko should’ve responded differently, but he had always made the worst choices when it came to heavy conversations, “That’s rough buddy,”

Sokka erupted in laughter, causing Zuko’s face to heat up in embarrassment, he was about to backtrack, but Sokka spoke in between laughs, “Yeah, it sure is rough buddy,”

* * *

It was no easy feat to break into the boiling rock, but somehow Sokka and Zuko had managed it. Their war balloon was toast, lost to the boiling sea, but at least they had found a way to sneak into the prison’s laundry room and find some spare guard uniforms.

Zuko was the one who offered to find information about war prisoners, the two splitting up as Sokka decided on looking for ways to escape when the time came. If his dad wasn’t here they’d both be out as soon as possible.

It took many failed attempts at awkward small talk for Zuko to find any information at all about war prisoners, in fact he knew more about the guards' love lives and pets. After one particular guard ate an entire meal with force that Zuko had never seen before he was finally told that there were no water tribe prisoners in boiling rock. 

Sokka would be heartbroken. 

Zuko was correct when he thought the water tribe boy would be heartbroken as he watched his face fall when Zuko pulled him to the side, his voice low as he spoke, “Did you find a way out? Apparently there isn’t any water tribe prisoners here right now,”

Sokka didn’t answer, a blank stare on his face.

“Are you okay?” Zuko asked, although he knew that Sokka wasn’t.

“Mhm,” Sokka sighed, defeated he turned his head, “I haven’t seen a way-” suddenly his sentence was cut short as he stared at a prisoner with short brown hair and a pissed off look on her face.

“Suki?” Sokka’s voice sounded like it was in disbelief. 

Of course the prisoner hadn’t heard him as she just continued walking into her cell, ignoring what looked like two guards possibly having a close and personal fight.

“Do you want to talk to her?”

Zuko was socially awkward, but he wasn’t dumb. He knew that the two had a romantic past, or hell, maybe they still had something going on, but it wasn’t like Sokka and him were together, so why did it make his stomach twist? 

“Yeah, I-” Sokka paused, taking a moment to look at Zuko as he had some internal battle, “I can’t lose her too.” 

The prince nodded, watching as a guard left the cell, “I can stand outside and make sure no one comes in.” 

* * *

That’s exactly what the pair did. Zuko didn’t make any comments and Sokka had been surprised that the fire bender had offered to watch out for people as he left the two alone. For some reason he felt that Zuko had a different impression of what was going to happen, but he didn’t have time right now to explain.

Instead he walked into the cell, Suki not recognizing him when he came in for a hug and consequently throwing Sokka to the ground. Zuko could be heard making a loud groan from outside the hell, his voice annoyed as he spoke loud enough for the pair to hear, “Can you not injure me?”

Suki knew something was different then, her eyebrows raising as she crossed her arms. When Sokka took off his helmet though her entire attitude changed, running to hug Sokka in an instant. She gave a quick kiss without much thought to who was outside the cell, not even realizing till Sokka backed away with a hand rubbing his neck in a nervous gesture.

“Wait, who is on the other side?” 

“Zuko,”

Suki’s eyes widened, panic clear in her voice as she rushed to get words out, “I didn’t know he was helping you and what are you even doing here anyway-”

“It’s a long story on both ends of that. Zuko is good now though, promise. We were trying to save my dad, but apparently he isn’t here, I’m glad we ran into you though,” his voice was genuine, true care behind his words as he looked at the warrior.

“I’m glad you did too,” her smile was smaller than usual, but it was still a smile at least.

She sighed bringing Sokka into an embrace once more, this time a softer one, her head resting on his shoulder as she mumbled words only he could hear, “Is this the moment when we break up, I’m okay, really, I did say I would be. I just want to know so I don’t do anything that would upset him or you, “

“I don’t know,” he was genuine in his words, knowing that something was missing between the two of them, but knowing that Zuko and him weren’t exactly an item or anything at all really.

“That means yes then,” Suki squeezed him one last time before pulling away, her voice louder this time, “So, that means you boys are helping me get out of here then?”

Sokka nodded, but Zuko didn't respond. For a moment Sokka thought Zuko was upset, but then he heard more guards' voices. 

“We have to see the prisoner, “

“Sorry, not now. She’s put on a schedule to stay in her cell for a few hours for her attitude, “ Zuko sounded almost panicked, god he was a bad actor, “Um, uninterrupted too, “

That must’ve not worked because fighting could be heard only a second later, with Zuko being taken away as one guard entered the cell. By that time Sokka already had on his helmet, making up some excuse about orders being confused.

* * *

This was supposed to be a simple rescue mission, well maybe not simple, but it definitely wasn’t supposed to have this many goddamn surprises. Of course Mai’s uncle had to be the warden and of course he had to recognize Zuko, it was just Zuko’s luck, really.

Zuko wasn’t sure if he was thankful or scared when Mai entered the room. He missed her, he really did, but he hadn’t exactly told her that he was leaving at all, which definitely would’ve upset the dark haired girl and he didn’t blame her. Her tone was demanding as she ordered the guards to step out, Zuko was sure he was going to be slapped, but instead he felt arms wrap around him tightly, a little too tight if he was being honest.

“If I didn’t miss you so much and worried out of my fucking mind I would slap you,” her tone was dry, but Zuko knew that she meant every word she said.

“I’m sorry I really should’ve left you a letter or something,”

Mai pulled back, standing up as she looked down at the prince, “Yes, you really should have and I will never forgive you for that, but I’m glad you’re alive, so there’s that,” she ran a hand through her hair, her long nails poking through the black strands as she continued, “What did my uncle say to you anyway? What are they planning to do exactly?”

“Something about being mad about me breaking his niece's heart and I have no idea what they are going to do honestly,” 

Mai let out a depressed sigh, pulling a small knife from her dress sleeve and untying the makeshift restraints that had been put on him, “Leave, if you stay you definitely will be dead, I like you alive better,” she frowned, but that didn’t mean much since a frown was always on her face.

“How?” Zuko stood up in a rush, pointing at his light ragged shirt that belonged to a prisoner, “Before I was disguised as a guard, it’s harder to lie low if I’m a prisoner.”

“I’ll help you escape when the time comes. Just follow whatever boy wonder says right now,” Mai waved her hand in dismissal, making her way out of the cell and shouting to the guards, “I’m done with him, do what you’d like.”

* * *

The plan was supposed to be pretty straight forward. At least that’s what Sokka thought when he was explaining the idea to Suki and Zuko, both of them mopping as part of a prisoner chore. 

“Those coolers, they’re supposed to keep it freezing right, nothing hot in it at all?”

Zuko rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that’s why they’re called coolers,”

“Okay, Mr.Smarty-pants, let me continue,”

“I’m listening,”

“So in theory it should be able to keep the boiling water from burning through it,”

“Sokka get to the point,” this time Suki spoke, standing straight up, her mop only being held rather than actually being used.

“If someone was in there we could get the screws lose and use it as a boat across the lake,”

“No one could do that, it’s too cold to even move,” Suki sighed, her voice filled with doubt.

“I can heat myself up,” Zuko mumbled, remembering just how useful the ability had been throughout the years with his almost always cold soulmate.

“What, how?” Suki asked, curious.

“My uncle taught me, it’s been useful,” he shrugged, not wanting to say anymore about why exactly it had been so useful.

“And it will continue to be useful! You just need to get in the cooler and unscrew the screws, done, bam,” Sokka said this with excitement, swinging his arms as he spoke.

Sokka nodded, but before he could speak, a prisoner by the name of Chit Sang spoke up, appearing seemingly from nowhere, “When is this escape happening?”

“We don’t know what you’re talking about-” Zuko rushed the words out, only for Chit Sang to put his hand up.

“Yes, you do. You’re escaping, count me in or I’m telling the warden about your little plan,”

“Fine,” Sokka said in defeat.

“I can stage a fight with shaggy hair there,” Chit Sang shrugged.

Zuko ignored the name, “Fine,”

* * *

The plan seemed easy enough, but as the two fire benders continued to yell insults at each other Sokka realized just how bad at acting Zuko was. It was endearing in a way, but the water tribe boy had been worried that the guards would know it was all an act, a terrible one. Luckily it seemed everyone was so eager for a fight that no one paid attention to the way Zuko’s voice shook, or the outrageous use of bending.

Sokka called the guards and watched as Zuko was dragged away, worry gripping his facial features despite knowing logically that the prince would be perfectly fine. 

He found Zuko within an hour, opening the cooler door to see Zuko breath out fire, something that made Sokka’s stomach do some sort of fort flip. 

“You learned your lesson?”

“I definitely have learned a lot,” Zuko smiled, showing an entire pile of screws hidden in his shirt.

* * *

The plan fell through. Zuko frowning as he heard guards talking about the possibility of war prisoners arriving soon. Despite finding a way to get out of the huge prison Zuko couldn’t leave without letting Sokka know the possibility of finding the man they had come here for in the first place.

The group walked down a path of jagged rocks, Zuko cursing himself for waiting until the last minute to tell Sokka, “They are getting a new shipment of prisoners later today,”

“What?” Sokka stopped, staring at Zuko, “Could my dad be on there?”

“It’s a possibility, what do you want to do?”

Sokka hadn’t even gotten the chance to answer before the pair heard Suki arguing with Chit Sang.

“You didn’t say you’d bring more people!”

“This is my girl and my best buddy, I have to.”

“It’s fine, whatever,” this time it was Sokka who spoke, standing between the two as he stared back at the prison.

“You guys go without me, “

“What, why?” Suki asked, clear that she was confused.

“My dad might be arriving later, I can’t leave him, not if that’s true,”

“Okay,” Chit Sang shrugged, climbing into the makeshift boat along with the two prisoners he brought.

“No, I’m staying with you,” Zuko spoke with no hesitation, it clear that he was not changing his mind.

“Me too,” Suki crossed her arms, sighing.

“Suit yourselves, we’re going,” 

The group watched their only way of escaping drift into the boiling sea.

* * *

Sokka’s dad was on the gondola. Hakoda was there. Sokka wanted to cry from happiness as soon as he saw the exhausted looking man get into line, glad they had waited, even if he had no idea how they were going to leave. 

The water tribe boy had wasted no time in finding the older man’s cell, taking off his helmet as soon as he entered.

Sokka felt like if Hakoda hugged him any tighter he’d faint, but he squeezed his dad back all the same, “Why are you here?”

Sokka tried to ignore the concern in Hakoda’s voice, smiling as he let go of the other, “You know prince Zuko?”   
  


“Of the fire nation? No I don’t personally know him, but I know of him,”

“Well, it’s sort of a long story, but we came here to bust you out, and we ran into Suki, so her too now,”

The way Hakoda’s eyebrows raised made Sokka rush to explain even more, “I promise I’ll explain more, but he’s on our side. I know we never talked about soulmates much, but he’s mine and-” 

“He’s what?” It was obvious that this seemed to only be confusing the water tribe man even more, “If I remember correctly you always said there was no way they could be fire nation when you were younger.”

“Yeah well, turns out things are way different than I thought. Dad, please, listen I promise you can trust him,”

Hakoda only nodded before speaking, his voice cautious, “We will talk about this later,” he sighed before continuing, “Do you have a plan?”

“We did, but we need a new one,” 

“You could always start a riot,”

* * *

Sokka’s plan was insane and Zuko almost outright denied it, but he continued to listen as the teen spoke through his cell, voice low, “If we start a riot we can distract the guards and then get on the gondola, Zuko come on Suki already agreed,”

“And I still don’t see how she agreed,” Zuko paused, his brows furrowing, “How are we even supposed to start a riot if we are all on lockdown? Did you forget Chit Song got caught and now all the prisoner’s are on lockdown? Because I didn’t, I’m still in this cell Sokka.”

Zuko could feel Sokka’s stomach drop as the words must’ve registered in the teens mind. 

“Had you really not thought about that?” Zuko spoke again, feeling the sudden uncertainty that Sokka had about the plan he had promised was foolproof just moments before.

“I’ll figure it out, I promise,” his voice was sincere, though Zuko had no idea how.

* * *

Sokka hadn’t lied about figuring something out because suddenly all of their cells opened at once. The issue was none of them had thought about how exactly they should start a riot or the fact that guards might pay more attention to the one who started the riot than the riot itself. Zuko had thrown the first punch without much thought, as well as the second, and the third, till eventually a crowd of prisoners had all begun to fight each other.

The issue with this was that the guards had singled out Zuko in a matter of minutes, not even giving the group enough time to meet up and escape. Guards surrounded Zuko, their fire whips moving towards him.

If the guards focused on him maybe everyone else could escape or at least that’s what the prince hoped when he closed his eyes, waiting for impact. But it never came, instead he felt himself being tugged forward by a warm hand, opening his eyes to find Sokka dragging him away from the crowded yard. 

“What are you doing?” Zuko yelled, looking behind him to see guards running after them the group completely separated by now.

“Rescuing you jerk bender,”

Zuko said nothing as he continued to allow himself to be dragged along by Sokka, his chest heaving as they continued to outrun the guards, taking a turn that obviously confused them for a moment, hearing a “Let’s split up!” from behind the pair. Eventually they couldn’t outsmart the guards anymore though as they reached a deadend, panic clear on Sokka’s face as he looked down the hallway, hearing the loud footsteps coming towards them.

It took a moment, but Zuko saw a small closet door close by, dragging Sokka along as they hid from the guards. 

It was a tight fit and Zuko had not realized just how small these supply closets really were until he was leaning against the wall with Sokka basically on top of him. It wasn’t the water tribe boys fault, Zuko knew that there was not much room at all, but it didn’t make the situation any more comfortable.

Loud shouts and commands could be heard close to the door, with one guard shouting, “Look in all the rooms! Even the closets!”

Sokka was the plan man for a reason, especially since what Zuko came up with next was the most idiotic idea he could come up with, “They wouldn’t suspect people who were...just looking for privacy,”    
  
“What do you mean?” Sokka’s voice was quiet, but obviously terrified at the idea of being caught.

Zuko knew that they only had a slim chance of this working, especially with just how homophobic the fire nation was (that could cause an entirely different issue), but he remembered guards turning a blind eye to same sex relationships, at least when they were stationed at a prison. Though a guard and a prisoner might be more risky, it was the best shot they had. 

Iroh had mentioned it a few times, the most notable time being when a rumor got around that two men in Zuko’s crew were in a relationship. Zuko had been furious, knowing all his life that it was not allowed, that if he couldn’t have something like that no one could, but Iroh had stayed in a chair, drinking tea as Zuko ranted.

“Uncle! How are you not furious? Men in our crew! They have betrayed the fire nation and…” where else was he going with this? Zuko had no idea, standing with his fists clenched as he watched his uncle drink tea.

“We are at sea,” Iroh took another sip of his tea and Zuko opened his mouth to state that he had no idea how that had to do with any of this, but Iroh’s finger went up, stopping Zuko from speaking at all, “Same sex relationships are common on ship crews, as well as even in prisons, guards or prisoners really. We just don’t talk about it.”

“How? How is that allowed?”

“It’s not technically,” Iroh stood up, stretching as he continued to speak, “The reasoning most people use is that they are isolated from the outside world and are primarily surrounded by men, though prison can be unisex there does seem to be more men than women,” Iroh yawned, “I don’t recommend making a big deal out of this nephew.”

  
  


Zuko had never spoken of it again, if he had heard a rumor about a crew member he kept it as just a rumor, deciding to listen to his uncle’s words even if they hadn’t made any sense to him.

Now Zuko could use the unofficial rules to his advantage, gulping at even the idea, his throat dry as he struggled to explain to Sokka exactly what he meant, “Guards turn a blind eye to same sex relationships, “ He paused, hearing the guards footsteps getting closer, “If they see us...making out in a closet they will probably just close the door,” another close step, another shout, “I mean, we don’t have to, honestly if you have a better idea-”

Zuko’s rambling was interrupted by a pair of surprisingly soft lips crashing into his own. For a second his eyes remained wide and opened, seeing Sokka close his and hold Zuko’s cheeks to steady himself, but then he realized it wasn’t exactly convincing if his eyes were wide open. The prince didn’t allow himself to think about it, closing his eyes quickly as he brought a hand to Sokka’s back, holding him somehow closer than they had been before.

As much as Zuko tried to ignore it, the kiss felt  _ really good _ . He knew this was only for the sake of maybe saving their own asses, but would it hurt to enjoy it a little? Zuko wanted more, which was odd considering he never had really wanted more from anyone, including Jet and Mai.

A free hand went to grab Sokka’s wolf tail, his mouth opening before he even thought about the action. It was embarrassing how flushed he had become, feeling the heat enter in almost every part of his body.

The door opened.

Zuko flinched for a moment, hearing a guard speak, “Oh, uh-”

Sokka had broken away for a moment, making sure Zuko’s face was covered as he avoided eye contact with the guard awkwardly standing in the doorway, “If you don’t mind could we have some privacy?”

The door was shut only a second after Sokka had spoken, leaving the pair to catch their breath as they stood there, shocked that it had even worked in the first place. Instead of celebrating silence filled the air, Zuko coughed as he tried to control his thoughts.

It seemed Zuko was not the only one struggling to return to normal as when he looked up Sokka’s face was redder than he had ever seen it, a hand on the wall behind him as he tried to distance the pair.

“I’m guessing we have to stay here for a bit longer?”

* * *

They did have to stay there for longer, way longer than Zuko would’ve liked, but eventually the halls became quiet again and the pair slowly walked out of the tiny supply closet. 

“Don’t feel too bad, we’ll figure something out,” Sokka’s voice was quiet, but comforting as they walked down the long hallway.

Zuko did feel horrible, but he felt awful for more than just the fact that he had probably just ruined the only chance the group had at escaping. Of course that upset him, but Mai did say she’d help when the time came, maybe they still had some hope? What really made Zuko feel so awful was the sudden idea he had come up with in the supply closet. 

It was not disgusting, no it was perfect and that was the issue. It felt  _ too good _ . Too good for something that he had been told his entire life was wrong. Of course Zuko had known that he couldn’t help who his soulmate was, but that hadn’t stopped him from believing he’d never be allowed to act on it, that it was wrong somehow to act on it in any way. Soulmate or not; a boy was a boy and that simply was not allowed.

Unlike Jet though this time he still felt like he  _ wanted  _ more, which only annoyed him more. He couldn’t have more, especially since they were in the middle of a goddamn war and they were trying to break out of prison.

Zuko hummed in response, not being able to come up with any sort of convincing reply as they continued to walk.

Sokka had opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly his eyes narrowed as he pointed in front of them, “Is that your emo girlfriend?”

Mai stood at the end of the hallway, hands on her hips as she stared at the pair, rolling her eyes at the hand pointed towards her, “Are you going to hurry up or am I going to leave you here?”

“That’s her,” is all Zuko managed to say as the pair jogged towards the frowning girl.

“I heard guards found people here, but they were busy,” she smirked, looking between the two as she continued, “I figured it was you two because they mentioned a guard and a prisoner.” She shrugged, gesturing for the two boys to follow her.

Both Zuko and Sokka felt their cheeks flush, looking at each other before averting their eyes.

“I’m not here about that though, so calm down loverboys,” she sighed, rolling her eyes even further back somehow, “I found the rest of your group. Water tribe leader and some warrior girl right? Same one Ty Lee and I have fought before? Anyway, both of them have guard outfits and I have one for you too, Zuko. Water boy, did you lose your helmet?”

Zuko looked to Sokka, realizing that he hadn’t seen the helmet in quite awhile.

Sokka put a hand to his neck, nervously stretching as he spoke, “Guess so, must’ve left it in the closet,”

Somehow Zuko’s face got even more red and Mai’s eyes rolled even further back, “Okay, whatever I have one there. There is a bunch of spare shit there,”

“Where exactly?”

“Here,” Mai stopped in front of a plain door, pushing it open to reveal an average size room with more guard uniforms than Zuko had seen in his entire life, all of them packed in corners as if they were trying to make room for even more.

Two guards stood in the corner, but upon further inspection it was just as Mai had said, she had gotten Hadoka and Suki guard outfits.

“What took you so long?” Suki yawned.

“Ask them,” Mai shrugged, not even waiting for an answer before she continued, “Since you guys can’t come up with a plan that works I came up with one. Sort of,” her tone was dry as she pointed towards the outfits, “Zuko get dressed, water boy get a helmet. You all are coming with me as my personal guards.”

Sokka spoke before Zuko had a chance to, “How is that supposed to get us out of here?”

“I need to leave this island at some point. You all are going with me on the gondola, simple,”

* * *

It had been a better plan than any of them had thought of so far, so no one objected. Mai was less than enthusiastic, but that seemed to be just her general attitude from what Sokka could tell, so he decided to trust her, especially since she had provided them all with disguises. 

It was all going well until the group had actually gotten off of the gondola, somehow riding the machine with no protests or issues with any of the personnel. When the group had descended though a huge problem was spotted; Azula.

Azula and Ty Lee stood on the rocky surface waiting patiently for the group to arrive, Mai’s voice was bored, but had a bit more of an edge to it as she spoke to the group, “Don’t say anything,”

“Mai I never seen you leave with guards, did your uncle insist?” Azula spoke with narrowed eyes, making sure she got a good look at everyone. 

“He even insisted they come along afterwards, I think he’s paranoid now, you know after Zuko,” Mai spoke casually, as if this was nothing more than a friendly conversation between friends.

Ty Lee didn’t sound phased at all, her voice light, “More the better! Maybe we can have more fun on the ride back then! I can’t believe we had to ride on that balloon all the way here for you, I mean it was fine of course! But, missed you-” 

The bubbly girl’s voice was cut off by Azula, putting her hand up, “I don’t want more people, it gets crowded,”

“I can’t just send them back Azula,”

“Oh come on, quit with the act. You’d never say yes to guards coming with you back home,” Azula’s voice was amused, smiling as if this was a fun game.

Ty Lee and Mai exchanged a look before Mai spoke, “You got me,” suddenly the less than enthusiastic girl threw small knives from her sleeve, yelling at the group, “Get out!”

It seemed Azula was under the impression that Ty Lee was going to help her as she began to bark orders at the circus performer, but Ty Lee didn’t make a move towards the group, only smiling as she attacked Azula instead.

Sokka had no idea what was going on, only having seen the three girls work together to try and kill him before rather than fighting amongst themselves, but he decided not to question it as he grabbed Zuko’s hand, dragging him along with the group as they went onto the war balloon that the girls had arrived in. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The human trash can Jet becomes more of a trash can and Sokka is not having it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll enjoy this chapter! I've been having a wild few days, so I doubt my posting schedule will ever be consistent at this point. Thank you to anyone who helped out as always! <3

Despite rescuing Suki and Hakoda from the most heavily guarded prison in the fire nation the group barely got to spend much time reunited as fire nation war balloons flooded the sky, recently betrayed Azula front and center leaning out of one of the many aircrafts as she smirked. 

It had only been a few days after the escape and yet she had found them already, answering Zuko proudly when he asked what she was doing, “I’m celebrating becoming an only child!”

After that things got hectic and Zuko hadn’t realized that the entire group had split into two until he was riding away on Appa, staring at the regular teens he had grown somewhat used to. Suki and Hakoda were nowhere in sight though and once asked Katara crossed her arms, sounding annoyed as she spoke, “The fire nation has separated us again. We had to leave them to go through a tunnel because of  _ you people _ ,” 

The ride was mostly silent after that.

* * *

Sokka was uneasy. The pair of teens had rescued Hakoda and Suki and even though they had been separated he was sure they were safe. But yet he still felt a lingering feeling of anxiety, fear looming at every moment. It was hard to pinpoint when exactly he had started feeling this or what exactly had caused it, but after watching Zuko interact with everyone else in the group recently it clicked.

_ Jet was being way too friendly.  _

Sokka had expected attitudes to change about Zuko when they came back, especially since he had helped rescue his dad (well it had been his goth ex girlfriend who helped, but close enough). Hell, Katara had even stopped making as many snide remarks at Zuko, though she obviously still wasn’t fond of the fire nation prince. But, he hadn’t expected Jet to suddenly change his feelings all together, as if his long stated hatred for fire benders was forgotten, at least when it came to Zuko. 

His arm was around Zuko far too much for it to be normal, his comments changed from insulting to complimenting, and he always made it a point to stare at Sokka as he did these things. 

The issue was no one else seemed to have an issue with this, not even Zuko. He could feel Zuko’s nervousness, but not once did the teen come to Sokka about being uncomfortable. In fact Sokka wasn’t even sure what to classify the fire bender’s nervousness as. Did it have to do with their past? Did it have to do with the sudden change in attitude everyone had? Or was it something else entirely? Zuko was complicated, Sokka knew that much, so trying to figure out if the nerves were worrying at all proved to be more difficult than he thought.

Toph seemed to be the only one to hear Sokka out.

“I wish you were able to see the look he gives me,” the water tribe boy scoffed, staring at Jet and Zuko in the distance. Jet’s hand was on Zuko’s back for some reason and  _ it was low _ . Just barely high enough to warrant it being just a friendly touch, but low enough for it to be  _ suggestive _ . Sokka wanted to wrench Zuko away, but he stayed planted next to Toph.

“I’m sure it’s an awful one, Snoozles, but I think being a dick is just his personality,” Toph shrugged, crossing her legs as she sat.

“It obviously is, but he is planning something, I feel it,”

“What’s fake justice man planning then?”

“I don’t know! And that’s what bothers me.”

“Tell me exactly what he’s doing, let’s go through your paranoia together,” Despite Toph’s usual harsh words there was genuine concern in them, usually being the only one in team avatar that Sokka confided in. 

“He’s been really nice to Zuko. Like, he wanted to kill him earlier, what changed?”

“Zuko wanted to kill us before though,” She points out, giving a halfhearted shrug.

“It’s different. He was still a dick to Zuko until we left, “ Sokka groaned, leaning back on a log.

“Okay, continue then,” Toph moved her arm in a forward gesture.

“He is touching him, constantly. Like, right now he has his hand on Zuko’s lower back! He stared at me as he moved it lower! And I know it makes Zuko nervous, but I can’t tell if that’s a bad thing. I don’t want to just, I don’t know, stop him from knowing people just because of the soulmate thing,”

Toph nodded, but said nothing as she felt Sokka might continue.

“Zuko flinches a lot when Jet randomly touches him, but he does that to anyone if you don’t announce yourself, especially on his left side. Jet also compliments Zuko a lot now, like before he called him a sorry excuse for a fire bender and now? Now he is wrapping an arm around Zuko while saying he has nice hair? While he stares at me! Like he  _ wants  _ to piss me off,”

Toph sighed, moving her hands behind her head, “It sounds like he’s just trying to make you jealous Snoozles. You know that they have a past, so I think he is just using that as a way to make you angry? He knows you and fire boy are soulmates, so I think this is just his way of fucking with you if I’m being honest,”

“So he’s just treating Zuko like an object again,” Sokka muttered, only knowing Toph heard him when she nodded.

* * *

Sokka hadn’t mentioned the kiss the pair shared in the closet and Zuko was grateful, but then again it had only been to save their own assess, so why would Sokka even mention it at all? Despite Sokka being his soulmate Zuko still had issues reading the teen, which was laughable considering the two literally could feel the other’s emotions and pain. 

Zuko had no idea if Sokka thought about the kiss constantly like he did. 

It was dumb. Zuko felt dumb. He had no way of explaining what he was feeling and Mai was not around anymore for him to vent to, so instead he ran through the same set of thoughts over and over. 

It felt better than any kiss he ever had. He loved it, he wanted  _ more _ . 

He knew this was going to happen, that’s what it meant when you had a soulmate, but he viewed it as a far off dream and nothing else. Zuko was a prince and princes weren’t allowed to follow those feelings. 

All his life he had been taught that it was disgusting. That what Sokka and he had shared was shameful, and despite accepting and giving in to his attraction to men, he still felt guilt. 

It was an exhausting cycle. 

What didn’t help was how Jet had seemingly changed overnight. The rebel teen had only looked at him with disdain before Zuko left with Sokka and now his hands were constantly on Zuko. 

It felt like back when the two were in Ba Sing Se.

Jet was close, way too close and despite the feeling Zuko had to push him away it was difficult when he was complimenting the fire nation prince constantly. Zuko wanted an excuse to shove the teen away, but whenever he looked at Sokka his eyes were elsewhere, as if he didn’t care either way.

Zuko could feel his worry and annoyance, but those emotions provided nothing if Sokka refused to talk about them. He couldn’t tell who the emotions were directed towards, Jet or him. If anything, it just made it harder for him to push the hands and touches away, because he couldn’t be sure if Sokka is okay with it or if he’s not. 

It was late when Jet entered Zuko’s tent, making a fake knocking noise before stepping into the small area.

“You sleeping? I can come back later,” Jet said this quietly, but it was obvious he had no intention of leaving as he sat crossed legged on a blanket. 

The prince rubbed his sleep filled eyes, groaning as he slowly sat up, “I’m awake now, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to talk,” Jet leaned back, making himself right at home.

“About?” Zuko had no idea what Jet would want to talk about, they had just gotten to the stage of the other not insulting Zuko constantly, what would they even have to talk about?

“I wanted to apologize,” He said, and it makes him sit up straighter, trying to angrily rub the sleep away from his eyes even more. 

Despite Zuko’s initial lack of trust, knowing that he had never heard a genuine apology from the other, Zuko still sat up fully, paying full attention as he considered Jet’s words. 

“I get it, I lied and you had every right to be angry when I first got here, don’t worry,” Zuko yawned, reasoning that this must’ve been what the apology was for.

“No, not just for that. I want to apologize for everything,” 

“Everything?”

“For trying to report you in Ba Sing Se, even though I made it up and it ended up being true, “ Jet let out a small laugh before continuing, “For ever making you feel uncomfortable and for disrespecting your feelings about soulmates and if you were ever even interested in me. I don’t even know if you were into me or if I just pushed you, so for that I’m sorry.” 

Instead of listening to the blaring alarms in Zuko’s mind he trusted how genuine Jet sounded, deciding that he was just paranoid, “Thank you,” he paused, rubbing his neck as he continued, “You didn’t always push me, but I do appreciate the concern.”

* * *

Sokka couldn’t explain why he had started listening in to Zuko and Jet’s conversation, but the more he listened the more his heart sank. Tent’s weren’t exactly sound proof and despite knowing he should’ve respected their privacy his concern outweighed his manners as he stood close by the door.

_ ‘You didn’t always push me’ _

Those words rang in Sokka’s mind continually as he heard the teens continue to talk. It sounded so  _ wrong _ . Did that mean that he had pushed Zuko at least once or twice? Once was enough for it to be awful, so why did Zuko sound like he understood?

Sokka knew that Zuko hadn’t had the best experiences when it came to any relationship. Not that Zuko ever discussed it in detail with him, but considering his dad was a crazed lunatic and his sister was psychotic and willing to murder her own brother- well it was safe to assume that he never had the best role models.

The water tribe boy knew of Iroh of course, but Iroh and Mai seemed to be the only people Zuko ever talked about fondly. 

He hadn’t known that the prince’s standards for how he was treated were so low though.

Apology or not Sokka wanted to rush in there and punch Jet right in the nose, but as he continued to listen to the conversation he felt no uncomfortable feelings from Zuko, so he decided he wouldn’t ruin that, whatever it was.

It wasn’t until Jet left the tent that Sokka confronted him, knowing damn well that the teen had not been sincere in any of his apologies. 

Jet raised an eyebrow as he left the tent, seeing Sokka standing there impatiently, “Did you want to see Zuko too? Better hurry before he falls asleep on you,” Jet said casually, continuing to walk as he ignored the glare Sokka sent his way.

The water tribe boy stomped after Jet, “Actually no, I wanted to talk to you,”

“Oh really? What do I owe this pleasure?” Jet smirked, but his tone was sarcastic, rolling his eyes.

“Cut the bullshit, what are you planning?” Sokka snapped, exhaustion and nerves making his temper short. 

“Planning? I have no idea what you mean,” Jet shrugged, raising an eyebrow carelessly.

“Yes you do, stop lying. You’ve been clinging to Zuko like a puppy and just a few weeks ago you tried to kill him,” He countered, clenching his fists by his side.

“I’m sorry, can I not be  _ friends  _ with your soulmate? Is that what this is? Sounds possessive,” Jet said, and Sokka  _ knew  _ that tone- it was the same tone of voice he used on Katara to try and get her to understand, the same one that made him want to wipe the smirk off of his ugly smug face. 

“You aren’t trying to be friends with him, you’re staring at me half the time. You’re trying to make me angry!” He lowered his voice at the last second, just barely remembering that by all it was well past midnight.

“Conceited much? I actually enjoy his company! And trust me, I have no interest in you,” 

“Just leave him alone, I know that apology was bullshit,” Sokka groaned as anger filled his stomach.

“Again, possessive. You two aren’t even together, right? This is borderline psychotic,” Jet stopped, standing right in front of Sokka as he spoke, moving to whisper in the water tribe boy’s ear, “Are you afraid he’ll sleep with me again?” 

Sokka felt his fist shake before it moved without his permission, hitting Jet square in the jaw. He should’ve considered that this would’ve ended badly as the entire group scrambled out of their tents. A small hand forcefully grabbing Sokka while his sister grabbed Jet, pulling the pair away from each other. 

“What’s it this time?” Aang spoke, a yawn escaping his lips as he looked between the two fighting teens.

“I can’t apologize to his little crush without him punching me, I guess!” Jet exclaimed, pointing a finger accusingly at Sokka.

Sokka’s face was red, but he wasn’t sure if it was from his own embarrassment or Zuko’s apparent red face in the distance. 

“He is faking it, he is planning something okay? You know what he just said to me-”

Katara interrupted, “Sokka, you’ve always been paranoid. He was apologizing right? Let it go, stop fighting all the time-” 

“I’m not paranoid!” He interrupted.

It was Toph who spoke next, her voice tired, “Jet- stop antagonizing him, that’s part of the issue. Both of you, just relax, okay? We have a war to deal with, not whatever  _ this  _ is,” she waved her hands, gesturing towards the two boys.

Despite Sokka’s worry and concern he nodded, knowing that Toph was definitely not wrong when she mentioned the war. Unlike regular teens they had more things to worry about and as much as Sokka felt something was wrong, Jet hadn’t done anything exactly. Not recently. 

Sokka often worried about everything anyway, knowing full well that his anxiety never seemed to go away, so he dropped it. He had no idea just how right he had been until later.

* * *

Despite the fight Jet hadn’t left Zuko alone and despite Sokka’s obvious worry about the situation, Zuko didn’t feel worried. Jet hadn’t shown any signs of some ulterior motive, instead he sat next to Zuko and listened to whatever left his mouth. From theater to his uncle, Jet seemed eager to listen, eventually even playing with Zuko’s hair if they were alone. 

It was weird, but Zuko didn’t know how to feel about any of it. Instead laying in his tent next to Jet, a lazy hand in his hair as he closed his eyes, hearing Jet speak.

“Why do you hang out with me more than Sokka?”

Zuko’s eyes snapped open, realizing now just how much more time he had been spending with Jet, “It’s not on purpose, you just show up,”

“I just figured being soulmates and all you’d pick him,” 

“Pick?”

“I’m just saying I don’t play with just  _ anyone’s  _ hair,” 

“We’re friends, I don’t get-” Zuko was interrupted by a pair of cold lips on his own, feeling Jet shift his body as he moved to stare down at Zuko.

The prince broke away, his eyes wide in shock as he stared at the teen now looming over him, “No, that’s not- no I can’t do this,” suddenly he felt like he should’ve listened to his blaring alarms.

“Is it because of being fire nation? I know how they think there, does it scare you? Feeling good?”

Zuko gulped, visibly tensing up as he spoke, “I can’t- just get off,”

“Fire nation or soulmate you don’t talk to, you’re scared that you like it,” Jet hadn’t waited for Zuko to speak before his lips were crashing onto the prince’s, rough and unforgiving.

Hands were everywhere, but Zuko kicked the teen before anything else happened, knocking Jet off of him as he backed away, “Get out,”

“Are you kidding me? Seriously, after all that-” 

Jet was interrupted by Sokka charging into the tent, his expression filled with rage as he grabbed Jet, dragging him out of the tent, “He said to get out, so get the  _ fuck  _ out.” __

  
  


Zuko didn’t hear Jet’s reply, but it only took a minute before Sokka stomped back into the tent, Zuko closing his eyes in a feeling he could only describe as fear.

The fear quickly left though as Zuko heard nothing but Sokka sitting down, blankets rusting as he took a deep breath. The fear was completely gone by the time Zuko opened his eyes to find Sokka’s saddened expression.

“Did you think-” Sokka paused, his face twisting uncomfortably as he seemed to consider his words, “Did you think I’d hurt you?”

“Sorry,” The word left his mouth before he had a moment to think about it. He didn’t know why he said it. 

“No, no don’t- you have nothing to apologize for. Just, are you okay?” Sokka ran a hand through his hair, keeping his space from Zuko.

Zuko nodded, “I’m fine, I could’ve handled it,”

“Of course, I just felt your fear and I ran here and I heard-” another pause, an uncomfortable sigh leaving Sokka’s lips, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I didn’t know that he’d-” Zuko stopped, his words failing to leave his mouth.

“It’s not your fault, it’s his. He should’ve listened to you,”

What shocked Zuko the most was where Sokka’s anger seemed to be directed towards. At first Zuko expected Sokka to be angry at the fact that the two kissed, or at Zuko for even allowing Jet to be that close in general, but instead Sokka seemed angry that Jet hadn’t accepted no. Not at the idea of the two teens being together, but at how the situation played out.

Sokka must’ve felt Zuko’s confusion before he spoke a second later, “I don’t care if you are with anyone, if they make you happy. Soulmates or not, that’s a lot of pressure and I understand that. I mean, yeah, it doesn’t feel  _ great _ , but we aren’t together and I don’t feel like you owe me anything, I just don’t like the idea of anyone hurting you, including not understanding basic consent,” 

Zuko felt his heart squeeze, but he had no idea how to react appropriately, “Thank you,” he paused, feeling so many emotions hit him all at once, “Thank you so much,”

“Don’t mention it, buddy. “ Sokka slowly got up, speaking once he was upright, “I’m going to wake up everyone else and deal with Jet. Do you want to come along or stay here? I don’t know if you want to see him, I can come back later,”

Zuko didn’t want to see Jet, not at all. The prince could feel his dinner threatening to leave his system as he thought of all the interactions he had with the teen, knowing there had been a motive behind them now.

“Just come back,”

“Gotcha, try to get some sleep while I deal with this asshole, yeah?”

* * *

Sokka was livid by the time he woke up Katara, pointing in the direction of Jet’s tent as he spoke, his voice the furthest thing from quiet, “He needs to leave now. He basically attacked Zuko, wake up Aang. I’m going to wake up Toph,” Sokka made a move to leave, but stopped once he saw Katara open her mouth with a doubtful look on her face, “I’m serious Katara, he  _ really  _ fucked up.”

It took less than ten minutes for Toph, Aang, Katara, and Sokka all to be awake and staring at Jet’s tent.

“Ok, so what happened? Why isn’t Zuko here to explain if it happened to him?” Katara frowned, crossing her arms across her chest.

“I think he doesn’t want to be around Jet right now,” Sokka paused, unsure of what he should say, “He tried to force himself onto Zuko. I could feel his fear and I heard- I heard Zuko definitely protest.”

“You’re sure?” Aang spoke this time, his tone concerned.

“I’m sure,”

“Let’s get this bastard out then,” Toph spoke, her tone eager for a fight.

“We definitely can’t have him stick around, I can’t have someone like that around us,” Aang spoke as kindly as possible for the situation, but it was clear that he was far from happy with Jet.

“Thank you. Zuko felt- I don’t want him to feel like that,”

“No one should feel like that Sokka,” Aang said reassuringly. 

* * *

With some threatening from Toph, Jet left within an hour, yelling as he disappeared in the distance. For the first time in months Sokka felt relaxed, feeling his feeling of dread leaving him for the night as he walked back towards Zuko’s tent. 

He did say he would come back and he was going to stick to his word.

Sokka slowly spread apart the tent flaps, whispering as he entered, “Hey, it’s Sokka,”

Zuko was laying to the side, his back towards Sokka, but he spoke with a clarity in his voice that proved he hadn’t been sleeping, “He’s gone?”

“He’s gone. Can I lay here with you? Or do you want me to go to my tent?” Sokka sat down next to Zuko, looking down at the prince patiently. 

Sokka didn’t know what the other needed right now, all he knew was that he wanted to help in any way possible. If that meant staying with him for the night or if that meant fucking off, well he was fine with either. As long as it helped Zuko.

“Stay, lay down,” Zuko turned over onto his back, his head turned slightly as he looked at Sokka, “Sleep here tonight, please.”

“Okay,” Sokka felt the blankets rustle beneath him as he settled in next to Zuko, turning his own head to look at the prince, “I don’t know what kind of people you’ve known, but just know I will never do anything like that,”

The two didn’t speak much after that and stayed on their respective sides of the tent, but Zuko felt more comfortable than he had in months, falling asleep within minutes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Azula has a new plan up her sleeve and Katara and Zuko are forced to work together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So I am definitely drifting from cannon here! In cannon I believe that Azula sends an assassin to the Gaang (muscle guy), here I am going to also do that but it will be for my own purposes! Anyway I hope ya'll enjoy! Thanks to anyone who helped as always! <3

Azula had always been sadistic, even as a young child Mai could see the pure amusement in her eyes whenever Zuko was upset, whenever anyone injured themselves, and even when Iroh fell into grief after losing his only son. At first Mai thought Azula just lacked empathy, but as more time passed it became crystal clear that she actually enjoyed other people’s pain, manipulation, and doing her absolute best to fuck up someone’s life. It was sinister and worse than Mai thought, but she had never taken into consideration that one day she could be one of those very people that Azula reveled in inflicting pain on.

Her chest heaved, feeling sweat slip down her face as she found it hard to focus on anything at all, Azula was talking, but the words were muffled at best. Mai struggled to keep her eyes from closing from exhaustion, the only thing keeping her from collapsing being a cold harsh chain around her arms.

Cold water slapped Mai’s face, jerking her body backwards as her eyes grew wide, Azula’s voice seemed bored, “You know I really can’t have you fall asleep on me, it’s rude. But, then again,” the princess leaned forward, an eerily gentle hand cupping Mai’s cheek, “Manners didn’t matter when you betrayed me, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“When have you had manners?” Mai didn’t know why she said that, it was a bad idea, a terrible idea that could only end badly for her. 

She was proven right when that same gentle hand swung back, slapping her forcefully. It stung, but there were much worse things that could happen; she was surprised she had just gotten away with a simple slap.

Ty Lee winced in response, her presence hard to miss when she was right next to Mai, cold chains adorning her wrists.

“We only did what was right! Azula we’ve all been tricked and manipulated our whole lives, if you’d just consider-” the circus performer halted in her speech as Azula's head whipped towards her.

Mai didn’t have to look to know that Ty Lee had been slapped on the opposite cheek; she could feel the hard tingle. 

“Let me try this again, since both of you seem to lack any sort of manners when you should shut up and pay attention,” Azula walked between the pair, standing back with her hands on her hips, “I suspected something for awhile, but since you two traitors were my  _ friends _ I didn’t tell my father, since I’m so nice. I believed you two could get past this whole forbidden love bullshit, I mean you two know that it’s not allowed, so I assumed you’d just ignore it. Which you did, but you see now I can confirm you two are traitors in more ways than one; just by hitting one of you.”

As if she were trying to make her point she walked calmly towards Mai once again, kicking her shin in a childish move. She only rolled her eyes when Ty Lee made a groan, looking between the pair to see if both felt her kick, “See? Anyway, now you both have two major crimes that are on your record. If I hadn’t found this information useful you two would be six feet under by now,” she shrugged, pausing as she moved back towards the middle of the conjoined cell, “You two should be glad! After all, you’re going to help me win this war, whether it’s willingly or not.”

“What are you planning?” Mai spoke this time, her voice rough from days with an insufficient amount of water.

“I’m going to destroy the Avatar’s fire bending teacher,”

* * *

Since the incident with Jet, Sokka found himself sleeping in Zuko’s tent more than his own.

It started off as a small gesture to comfort Zuko, not exactly knowing what he should do in a situation that had seemed so complicated. The first night had only been a one time offer, until the second night, and the third, and the fourth...he lost count. 

The second night Zuko must’ve had a bad dream because he was outside of Sokka’s tent around one in the morning, nervously swinging back and forth as he asked if Sokka would like to sleep in his tent again. The rest of the nights Sokka had only looked at Zuko when everyone was making their way to their own tents, waiting for any indication that the prince would rather sleep alone, but every time a hand tugged on his tunic, urging him to follow.

The water tribe boy never asked exactly  _ why _ Zuko wanted them to sleep in the same tent, but as he watched the prince fall asleep faster than he had ever seen (or felt) he had an idea. Whether the incident with Jet had been the trigger or whether Zuko just felt more comfortable in general sleeping next to Sokka, the teen had no clue. 

Throughout the day nothing changed much at all. Zuko still spent the majority of his time trying to train Aang. While he was not directly with Aang all the time, the young boy could be seen mumbling ‘one hot squat, two hot squat,’ as he bent his body downwards. Katara still didn’t outwardly try to be around Zuko, but she chose to ignore him more often than not. Toph continued making jokes, but bending with a force that still shocked Sokka everytime he watched the land around them simply change by a flick of her wrist. Sokka kept cracking jokes and forming plans as the day they were supposed to save the world loomed closer.

Even with the fire lord's beach house serving as their resting place no one slept in the home, still electing to stay in their tents rather than step foot into the building for longer than needed. Zuko had brought up the idea and while everyone had been uneasy, the fire bender had assured the group that it would be the last place Ozai would look, but still no one felt comfortable enough to sleep in the home; including Zuko.

At first Sokka thought that Zuko just hadn’t wanted to spend the night alone in the home, but as the nights continued and Zuko’s eyes continued to avoid the home altogether it became clear that the place made him uncomfortable. 

It wasn’t until Sokka woke up to Zuko tossing and turning, mumbling incoherent words as his face grew grim that Sokka had figured out why he didn’t want to sleep in the vacation home; 

It terrified him.

It took Sokka gently shaking Zuko’s shoulder for what seemed like well over ten minutes for Zuko to finally wake up, his body jolting upright as his chest rose and fell at an unnatural pace.

“You okay? It’s just me,” Sokka squeezed Zuko’s shoulder, but quickly let his hand retreat when the fire bender’s eyes shot towards him, his whole body stiff.

It took over a minute for Zuko to respond. Sokka did his best to wait patiently before he did anything else, “Sorry, did I wake you?”

Despite his breathing still being quicker than normal his body shifted to a more placid position, knowing he was safe from whatever had haunted his dreams.

“Yes, but that doesn’t really matter, are you alright? Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want to be alone or would that bother you more, I never know because you always-” his rambling came to a halt when Zuko let out a huge sigh, rubbing his eyes.

“I’m fine, this happens sometimes, don’t worry, it’s making me worry,” the fire bender’s chest rose and fell at a normal pace now, he yawned before speaking again, “I know I was the one that recommended this place, but sometimes even being close to the area makes me want to vomit,” Zuko shrugged, obviously not planning on elaborating. 

Without thinking it through Sokka slid his hand to his soulmate’s, intertwining their fingers without hesitation. He almost pulled his hand away when he felt Zuko go stiff, remembering that despite sleeping in the same tent they hardly touched unless it was a quick pull. But, Zuko’s hand squeezed lightly for a few moments, his body relaxing as his features became more serene.

“You don’t need to talk about it, but I’m here if you need to,” Sokka offered in response, knowing that while he had felt Zuko’s emotions and pain since he could remember he still didn’t know exactly what caused half of them, though he could take a guess.

“I actually used to love the beach, I think it was because it was a distraction from life at the palace. My family used to come here a lot when I was younger or just to beaches in general, but we stopped after my mom...after she wasn’t there anymore,” 

There was something hidden in between those words, but Sokka had no idea if he had a right to ask exactly what happened to Zuko’s mother. Only nodding in response, as he squeezed the teens hand.

“Anyways, it just kept getting worse every year we went. Or maybe I just don’t remember most of the earlier years, I’m not sure. I was ridiculed for even having a bit of fun- because for some reason it made me less of a man to go swimming instead of sitting looking bored in the sand. Or if I did that I was suddenly lazy, the reasonings just  _ flipped _ , but somehow I’d always get in...a bunch of trouble. I mean the burns aren’t as bad as the one on my face, but,” he shrugged, obviously not willing to elaborate further. 

Sokka felt his heart sink, a weight tugging it further down as he thought of all the seemingly random burns he’d get as a child, always thinking his soulmate was a prisoner. It seemed like Zuko might as well have been a prisoner at this point. The more Sokka learned, the more his heart ached, but yet he barely knew anything at all. This was just the tip of the iceberg. Yet, Zuko still had more to him. 

“Your dad is a piece of shit Zuko,” Sokka frowned, not even knowing how to respond to his soulmate admitting that his childhood had mostly been filled with trauma.

Zuko seemed amused at the comment, grinning as he spoke, “Yeah, he really is, isn’t he?” the teen’s face suddenly turned into a more neutral expression, his voice oddly serious, “Thank you for staying here so much, it means a lot. It just...honestly I sleep better than I ever do, less nightmares than I used to have, so just thank you,”

“No need, this tent is better than mine anyway. I mean, mine has a giant rip that I had to tape up because Momo had to ignore the tent flap and just tear through the side of it,”

The mood suddenly became lighter after that, but the two didn’t bother to separate their hands, not even as they laid down and eventually felt the exhaustion of the day hit them. This would be the first night of many that the pair had slept like that, space between them, but their hands held together in that empty space. Somehow being close and yet so far away at the same time.

* * *

Zuko didn’t know when things started changing between him and Sokka, when suddenly he became  _ uncomfortable _ sleeping without the other, when he reached out his hand once they were alone in the dark, only squeezing his palm throughout the night. He couldn’t say when the nerves and pressure turned into comfort and peace. 

All he knew was that Sokka had become his happy place-  _ could  _ a happy place be a person? If he had to pick anything that made him feel better, it would be when he was laying in his tent with Sokka, so in his eyes  _ Sokka was his happy place. _ There was a war and with every passing second the clock ticked down to when the teens would actually have to win this war. But, when he was all alone with Sokka it was the only time he could forget about the war, forget about the colossal responsibilities they all had, even if it was only for a few hours. Even if it was when they were both asleep.

The issue was that he hadn’t seen Sokka in hours and the rest of the group had already gone to sleep, leaving Zuko waiting in the cold night air. He could not say why everyone had chosen to ignore Sokka’s absence, even when he had mentioned his worry considering someone seemed to be tracking the group. They had all seen the man that Azula must’ve sent their way, had seen his muscular frame attack them, which wasn’t too unusual. What was unusual was that the attacker seemed to be focused on Sokka. 

At first Zuko didn’t realize it, only viewing the attacks as being directed towards anyone and everyone in the group, but after the second time it was clear that Sokka had been his main target. Almost all of the stranger’s energy was directed at the water tribe boy, which was weird considering he was the only non bender in the group. The prince had brought this up to the group, but everyone had only said they’d be careful. 

_ Leaving Sokka alone while they went to bed wasn’t careful. _

He knew he wasn’t being fair, but anger swelled in his chest at the thought of how careless it was. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he had a right to be considering the group was in constant danger.

When he felt a rush of adrenaline, that’s when he knew he wasn’t just being paranoid. Whatever was going on was making Sokka use all of his energy, fear moving from the back of his mind to the very front of it. Zuko was running in a second, not knowing where he was going, or if he would even run into the teen, but he had to try.

_ He had to try. _

A blunt jab of pain in the back of his head stopped Zuko in his tracks, stumbling as he looked around. That was not his pain.

The realization made his panic grow, his eyes desperately searching for any sign of the boy's blue figure. His eyes squinted as he saw a figure in the distance, blue, still, and slumped forward.

_ It was Sokka. _

His legs moved faster than his brain could catch up with, stumbling over branches and rocks. He had been so close, just a yard away before he saw a tall muscular figure stroll over to the unconscious boy, picking him up with ease.

  
  


The fire bender tried to catch up, willing his legs to ignore his exhaustion and follow the attacker. He got close this time too, producing a flame as soon as the man was within range, being careful not to hurt the person he was actually trying to save. 

He tried his best. He really did, but whoever this person was must’ve known his habits, how he fought, because it felt like the stranger had predicted every move that Zuko made. It made no sense, even if he had fought the stranger before; it seemed like too much information to gather from the small fights, like he had studied him.

The only people who knew him this well were Iroh, Mai, and Azula.

_ Azula. _

Zuko had his suspicions before, but he figured it out too late, figured out who was behind this all too late because before he knew it the world turned black.

Zuko woke up hours later, rubbing his head as he looked at the tree filled area. The attacker left him.

_ The attacker took Sokka. _

_ Zuko had been too late. _

* * *

Sokka had never been a main target or the main focus with anything at all really. Katara had always been a main focus back at the village, mostly because she was a water bender and that carried great risks, which he understood (didn’t make him feel any better though). The younger kids in the village had been a focus as well because a war was going on for spirits sake and the children needed to learn how to protect themselves if the time came as well as be  _ protected _ by anyone able in the village.

When he joined up with Aang the focus on him only dwindled down, which he understood, he really did, he wasn’t the avatar, it made sense (still didn’t make him feel any better). As the group kept gaining more members and as the teens had met more people Sokka had accepted that he was a background character, if anything at all. Sure, he came up with plans and he was  _ damn  _ good at it too! But he was terrible at public speaking, couldn’t bend, and worried constantly. 

The water tribe boy had been a main focus when he was being taught swordsmanship though and it had felt  _ good _ , but they couldn’t stay in Ba Sing Se forever. Someone recognized his potential, his out of the box thinking, and his will to fight, but he still felt lacking sometimes (more than he’d like to admit).

So when he had been knocked out by the same man who had been targeting the group for weeks now, he was shocked to say the least. Zuko had brought up the fact that the attacker seemed to pay more attention to Sokka than anyone else, but Sokka wrote it off, simply because  _ that was impossible. _

_ No one had ever paid special attention to him, fighting or not. _

Apparently it wasn’t that absurd though because Sokka was somewhere dark and he  _ couldn’t move. _

He yanked his hands forward, only for them to be jerked back, his legs weren’t much better as they couldn’t move  _ at all. _ It was cold, whatever was holding him was freezing, but it was too damn dark and he couldn’t see anything at all. 

Sokka didn’t have to worry about that for long though because only a second later a door swung open, a figure holding a torch and taking their time to light up the surrounding torches that were apparently in the room.

_ It was a ship. It was the bottom of a ship. A fire nation ship. _

Panic made his whole body freeze, staring at the very same man who had brought him here to begin with. Sokka wanted to yell, wanted to say anything, anything at all, but his mouth wouldn’t move.

“Don’t take this personal kid, only following orders,” the voice was harsh and indifferent, as if this was just another checkmark on the stranger’s list.

“What-” Sokka gulped, taking a deep breath before he continued, “What are you doing? Where-” he stopped again, why was his throat so goddamn dry?

“We’re on a fire nation cargo ship, had this room changed just for you, or at least that’s what the princess says, not that it matters,” The man's silhouette shrugged in the dim lighting. 

A cargo ship? Where were they even going? Was there a point to any of this at all? Sokka’s thoughts raced, well, that is until he noticed a cart of weapons in the corner or was torture devices a better word? 

“Let’s get started, pick a number 1 through 20,” 

_ There were twenty weapons on the cart. _

* * *

“What do you mean Sokka’s gone?!” Zuko had never heard Katara’s voice so shaken up, syllables cracking beneath the anger.

Zuko’s head was pounding and he wasn’t sure if that was due to his own stress and lack of sleep, or if it had something to do with the fact that he felt a new kind of pain every twenty minutes. He felt like crying or vomiting, maybe both at the same time, but he stood still trying his best to not lose it in front of Katara. 

“I’m pretty sure that Azula sent that guy who’s been attacking us to…  _ take him _ ,” His voice breaks slightly, and Zuko couldn’t tell if it was because of the new flare of pain from his soulmate, or if the very idea of Sokka being  _ gone _ hurt that much. 

“You’re pretty sure?” Katara sounded like she’d punch Zuko soon.

“I tried to stop him, but he knew all my fighting habits and weaknesses, the only people who know that are Mai, Azula, and my uncle and only Azula would do something like this,” Despite the shakiness in his voice it was easily understood; his sister had taken his soulmate.

“Wow, so your psychotic lunatic of a sister-” Aang placed a hand on Katara’s shoulder, his face downcast as she stopped speaking. 

“It’s not his fault,” Aang tried to reason.

“It is! He let him go!” Katara had stomped away before Zuko could agree.

* * *

Zuko couldn’t sleep. Aang and Toph said they all needed their rest and that they all would look for Sokka the next day, but that  _ was too long.  _ The fire nation prince couldn’t wait, every second he could feel Sokka suffering. His head hurt, his arms hurt, his throat was beyond dry, and he was terrified. 

_ Sokka was terrified and it was all Zuko’s fault. _

So no, he couldn’t sleep. He had to find Sokka now, he had to be the one to do it.

The teen made his way to Appa when all he could hear were crickets, the night quiet and peaceful, except it  _ wasn’t  _ peaceful because Sokka was hurting. Zuko had been so focused on being quiet that he hadn’t realized Katara until he ran right into her, eyes shooting forward to her agitated expression.    
  
“Running away?” her voice was as thick as ice, cold and harsh.

“I can’t wait till tomorrow,” he stopped, noticing the bag Katara held at her side, “I’m guessing you can’t either?”

Katara was silent for almost a full minute before she started walking again, hopping on Appa as she stared at Zuko, “Are you going to help me find my brother or what?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Zuko have one thing in common and that's Sokka.
> 
> Or in which the two have an actual conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone who helped out with this chapter as always. <3

It was of popular belief that once you've lost so many people you become numb to it all. It was in every war story, every lone survivor story, but Katara's story was different. At first she lost her mother, it was quick and she was young, but that did not take away the fact that her mother was gone for the rest of her life. Then it was her father, though in a different sense. He hadn't died, but he had left Katara with an eldery grandmother and a rambunctious older brother. The water bender loved Grangran, but with her age came problems. Katara felt more like a caretaker to everyone in the village. Sokka, although annoying, was one of the only people she actually had left.

_ And now he was gone. _

Or he would be gone if she didn't figure out a way to find him. Katara would have never worked with Zuko alone, she doubted she even would have considered it at all, but she was so desperate, so desperate to save her stupid obnoxious brother. 

Sokka was annoying and only recently became less of a sexist idiot, but he had grown so much in these past few months and despite all of that he was her brother. Katara knew that Sokka worried about her (though he had never said it) and she couldn't imagine a life without him. Without his lame jokes and never ending appetite, without  _ him. _

When she saw the pain clearly in Zuko's eyes, heard the strain in his voice, well she couldn't deny him even if she wanted to. 

That didn't mean the two had to be best friends, but she found herself hating the silence the more the search continued. For the first few hours the pair didn't say more than five words to each other, looking over the edge of Appa as they searched the surrounding forest. Although trying it was clear that it was becoming increasingly difficult for Zuko to do anything at all. After what must've been the tenth wince Katara felt her stomach drop.

_ He was feeling what Sokka was. _

Although she had never been fond of Zuko she could never deny the fact that him and Sokka were  _ soulmates _ . That had been part of the reason she had hated the fire nation prince so much, she just never thought he had been good enough for her brother.

It had been hours since the pair had left the vacation home and Sokka was nowhere in sight. As much as her heart was aching for her to keep going she knew that without a plan or decent communication they would get nowhere. It didn't help that Zuko looked like he was about to faint, his chest heaving and his lip bleeding from biting on it so hard.

Katara wasn't sure when or where they had stopped, but at some point the pair was on the ground.

"What kind of pain is it?" Her tone was concerned, but the concern laid mostly for her brother rather than the teen laying on Appa's back. 

"It's-" Zuko's voice was harsh, struggling to even get a syllable out, "It keeps focusing on one area and then moving to another, I'm afraid to look at my legs if I'm being honest,"

Katara was beside the teen in a second, panic rising in her chest as she heard the extent of it, but she pushed the feeling below the surface, her face calm and disinterested, "Let me look,"

Zuko made no protest and Katara didn't wait for him to, lifting up his pant leg and frowning at the deep gash that seemed to spread across the bottom half of his leg. She didn't even want to think about what caused that. The bruises didn't help much either.

"If I help you it should help Sokka right?" The water bender opened her canteen of water in a moment, bending it right above the concerning gash as it lit up.

"Yes, it should help a little at least, " 

  
  


Katara didn't know much about soulmates at all if she was being completely honest. Of course she had heard the many stories her tribe had and she had seen her brother deal with his fair share of injuries, but she never had any experience with it until recently. 

"We can rest for a little, I need you to be able to hold an actual conversation so we can figure out how we are going to save my brother." 

* * *

The pain stopped. Zuko's leg was no longer burning and his arms only felt sore. The fire bender knew this was not from Katara's bending, it wouldn't have stopped the pain completely, there was no way. 

The first thought that snuck its way into Zuko's mind was that Sokka was dead. It hit like a tidal wave, crushing everything in his mind with a brutal force. 

"I can't feel it," His words came out rushed, obviously panicked as he thought about the possibility more and more.

"Feel what?" Katara sounded tired, but he would've been surprised if she hadn't been exhausted. 

"The pain. I can't feel his pain, I'm sore, but that's it," He scrambled for an explanation, "He was in so much pain what if he- what if he died,"

His head was spinning, the world blurring as he tried to accept the possibility that Sokka was gone.

"Do you feel empty?" The question rang throughout the air, taking longer than normal for it to register in Zuko's brain.

Empty? He didn't know how to answer, so he didn't.

Katara sighed, her tone growing frustrated as she continued, it obvious that she was terrified behind her annoyed facade, "You need to communicate Zuko. Otherwise we won't know, okay? You're the closest thing I have to telling how he is doing,"

The water bender sat with her legs crossed, her hands buried in her lap as an attempt to hide her nails digging into her palms, without waiting for Zuko to respond she continued, "It's a hollow feeling. You'll feel an intense pain all at once and then...nothing. But, it's more than nothing, it's like a part of you is gone. Hollow, do you feel hollow? __

Zuko felt scared and tired. He felt guilty, worried, and panicked, but he didn't feel hollow.

The prince shook his head, gulping, "No, why have you felt that?"

Katara had never spoken about soulmates when it came to herself, at least not that Zuko knew of. If she had one, did that mean they died?

"Yeah," The water bender's voice came out in a deep breath, some sort of relief finding her features, "Maybe whoever has him took a break, he's alive."

Zuko wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure if he had the right to. She hated his guts after all, why would she want to share something that personal with him?

Despite his doubts she didn't drop the subject, "Aang, when Aang died that's how it felt. When...when Azula...you know." her voice trailed off, a soft tone in her voice that Zuko had never heard before lingering in the air.

"He's your soulmate?"

"Yeah. I didn't know for sure until then. I hadn't felt anything like Sokka did all those years, so I had just assumed I didn't have one. I started feeling certain things when Aang came around, but I wasn't sure until that day," She shrugged, taking a deep breath before continuing, "It makes sense. He was in an iceberg for one hundred years."

"I'm sorry-"

Katara's hand went up in a second, stopping Zuko from saying anything more, "Don't, you're here now and that's what matters,"

"Don't you hate me?"

"I'd be lying if I said I liked you." 

Zuko felt himself accept her words, opening his mouth to say he understood, but Katara spoke before he had the chance to, "It's hard to like someone who has been trying to kill us. It's also hard to like someone who could hurt my brother more than anyone ever could, but it's also hard to hate someone who is trying to do everything in his power to fix his mistakes. It's hard to hate someone who is desperately trying to find my brother with me."

A loud sigh could be heard coming from the girl, her chest falling slowly, "I've been trying to hate you, but it's hard. So, no I don't hate you."

Zuko had never heard Katara speak this nicely to him, even if she was only admitting that she didn't despise him and nothing more. He wasn't sure how to respond, "Thank you for letting me come," 

"You were going to try to find him anyway, don't mention it. I haven't told anyone about Aang, so keep this between us or I kick you, okay?"

"Okay,"

"Do you have any ideas about what your sister has done with my brother?"

* * *

_ Five. _

The stranger had only used five weapons that were sitting on that rusty cart. 

_ Fifteen _ .

There were fifteen more weapons left to go.

Sokka wasn't sure if he'd be alive by the time they got to the twentieth weapon. His leg was burning and the weapons had only been used on the one leg, how would the rest of him feel later? He didn't want to think about it. 

Time was hard to grasp, that much was evident when he opened his eyes to find himself alone in the room. He must've passed out from pain.

The man would be back, but Sokka had no clue when that would be. The teen didn't know which one was worse, the waiting or the actual pain. Both made his skin crawl, but the waiting meant he had a small break, but of course that was ruined when he thought of what would happen after his small 'break'.

At first Sokka had asked questions, asked why he was there, what would torturing him accomplish, but when the man started ignoring him all together he stopped, finding that the more questions he asked the harder he was hit. 

Despite the force behind the stranger's movements his face stayed the same; bored, expressionless. 

_ This really was just a job to him. _ And that's what made it all hurt even more. Sokka was just another checklist. Just another person to harm in the war, just another casualty. 

_ Seven. _

A rusty clock sat in the corner, the number clear as the minutes ticked by. This time Sokka would stay awake, he'd figure out if there was a pattern at all to the breaks.

  
_ He'd find a way to get out. He was not just going to be another casualty to this war. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys are busy and confused. <3
> 
> Our girls are badass and cool thanks. <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! I actually had a tough time writing this one, but I hope ya'll like it! Thanks as always to anyone who helped!

There were exactly ten long pieces of floorboard, one huge door, twenty different tools constantly on a cart if not in use, three separate guards who used the tools, and one who only showed themselves during his "breaks"  _ with a sorry excuse for a soup  _ and shitty water. There were also no windows; no other escape routes. Despite knowing the shifts, guards, and cracks in the room, Sokka had no idea how many days it had been since he had been captured. 

_ It felt like a lifetime. _

If the teen was not being tortured, he was wincing at his churning stomach, trying desperately to think of a way to escape. 

The idea came to him during one of his "breaks" as he watched the scrawny guard bring a tray with a small cracked bowl and what he assumed to be a water cup. The first day the guard had scooted the tray to him, he didn't understand why he was being fed, considering the fact that he had been tortured the entire time he had been held captive. But whoever was in charge wanted him alive apparently. 

The water tribe boy sat on the cold floor, his leg chained to the wall as he watched the tall stranger sigh, sliding the tray towards him before turning his back towards the teen, making his way for the door.

"W-Wait!" Sokka's voice was harsh, making him wince at the sound.

"What?" The guard didn't even turn around. Sokka had no idea where he was going with this.

"They really messed up my arm this time, I can't move it well," Sokka paused, hoping his lie would work, "Can you help me? I can't eat if I can't even pick up a spoon…"

A loud sigh could be heard from the clearly unimpressed guard as he turned around, staring at Sokka with a suspicious look, "You want me to feed you? You think this is some sort of vacation?"   
  
"No! I just… if you people want me alive I need to eat," He scrambled for an excuse, and blurted out the first one that came to his mind.

The lawnky guard considered for a moment before walking towards Sokka, a frown clear on his face as he grabbed the bowl and bent at his knees towards Sokka.

"Open wide I guess," The guard's unenthusiastic voice rang clear as he filled a spoonful of the sorry excuse for a soup, bringing it towards the teens face.

It was a poor plan, but Sokka knew this was the best guard to take down in his weak state, knowing that this man only seemed to work in care and cleaning rather than anything else. 

Before Sokka had a chance to second guess himself he lunged forward, sinking his teeth into the stranger's shoulder. As the guard struggled to free himself Sokka made use of his free hands, finding a ring of keys in no time before putting the very same key he had been seen used on his chains many times into the slot, twisting and freeing his foot.

The whole interaction only took a minute, Sokka standing on his wobbly legs and pushing the guard away as soon as possible.

Before the guard had a chance to call for help Sokka ran to the cart, grabbing the nearest weapon and pointing it towards the man on the ground. Despite Sokka's extreme fatigue he quickly grabbed the chain locking up the man with his own ring of keys before stuffing it into his pocket.

"Stay," Sokka commanded, even though there really was no point considering the guard wasn't even able to walk across the room.

"I don't get paid enough for this, whatever," was all the guard said, wincing as he held onto his shoulder.

Not another word was said as Sokka left the small room, locking the door behind him. 

_ He was almost free. _

* * *

It had been two days and five hours since Sokka had disappeared. 

Despite the fact that Zuko hated feeling his Soulmates pain; or the fact that Sokka was in pain at all, he kept telling himself that at least he knew the other was alive. In pain, but alive.

He didn't feel empty, not like Katara said, which was the one thing that kept him going as his head pounded more and more every day.

The pair had managed to find tracks leading to the coast, a busy dock with merchants at every corner at the end. It was easy enough to follow the large footprints, but what was surprisingly easier was finding the many clues that led to just where exactly Sokka was being held.

After finding a sandal of Sokka's that was clearly watertribe and asking around the port it was clear that things weren't being hidden as well as they should've been. For a second Zuko thought of warning Katara, of saying that maybe they were falling into a trap, but the more Zuko thought about it the more he thought of just how bold Azula really was.

All his life Azula had been extremely cunning and confident, maybe a little too confident. If there was any weakness she had, well it would be her hubris. The Princess had always believed that she was better than anyone and everyone, especially Zuko. She had done this to ruin him after all, maybe she left clues as if this was all a game to her? It surely felt like this was some sort of game for her anyway, it was always a game for her; making people suffer had always been her favorite pastime.

_ Her overconfidence had led Katara and Zuko right to Sokka. _

It only took a day in the harbor for the pair to find out exactly what ship Sokka had been taken away on and after that it had only taken two hours before they flew right above it, staring down at the red emblem that adorned the supposed trade ship.

The pair wasted no time, landing Appa right onto the ship in front of what seemed like way too many workers for just a small trade ship. The fight was short, the two benders overpowering the crew within minutes. Alarms blared as the two searched each room, running throughout the hallways.

  
  


Zuko had expected prisoners, but he had not expected to find Mai and Ty Lee as he searched through the hallways, opening door after door until he froze in his tracks.

_ Azula is cruel. _

_ Azula always lies. _

_ Azula is cruel. _

No matter how many times he had repeated the sentences as a child it had never prepared him for the sight he saw. Ty Lee looked like skin and bones, her ribcage clearly visible through her now ragged clothes, her cheeks hollow and bruised. Mai was not much better off, her right eye swollen and her lips caked with dried blood. The two sat on the floor, not even turning their heads as the door was slammed open.

"Mai?" Zuko's voice came out choked, refusing to cry.

The sarcastic girl's head slowly turned, squinting before a small smile found its way towards her face, "Zuko,"

"Zuko! Oh my god, did you come to get us?" Ty Lee's voice was small despite her enthusiastic tone, exhaustion clear.

"Sokka's here,"

"That's what she meant by messing with the Avatar's fire bending teacher, huh? Wanna unchain us?" Mai's voice came out bored, but it was obvious that she was glad to see him.

Zuko didn't even answer, only rushing towards the pair and bending down quickly. He wasted no time as he lit a fire, burning the chains as fast as he could as he heard footsteps storm down the hallway. 

The fire bender turned around quickly, expecting some sort of worker, but instead was met by Katara's shocked face. The pair had been sticking together, but when Zuko saw his two former friends he had almost forgotten why exactly he was even on this spirits forsaken ship in the first place.

"Do they need any healing? Can it wait?" Katara's voice came out with a lack of emotion, showing just how short on time they were. As if she was going to wait until later to ask questions, which Zuko thought was the right idea; actions first, questions later. 

Before Zuko could answer Ty Lee's voice rang throughout the room, "We can wait, guessing we still need to find Sokka? I didn't even know he was here,"

"We don't even know where here is," Mai interrupted as she dusted off her skirt, standing and looking around the room.

"It's a ship," Zuko said first, still trying to wrap his mind around all of the events taking place.

"It was disguised as some sort of trading ship, looks like there isn't anyone too concerning fighting wise here, but we really don't have time to chat," Katara stuck her head out the door as she spoke, showing just how much on edge she really was.

Mai stuck out her hand, allowing Ty Lee to grab on as the energetic girl spoke, quickly getting up, "I don't think there is anyone else who is captive, I mean, seems to small for it to have more than a few, he can't be too hard to find,"

"Split up?" Mai spoke now, letting go of Ty Lee's hand.

"Meet on the deck in ten," Zuko rushed the words out as he ran towards the door, looking back at the pair.

_ They were going to save Sokka. All of them. _

* * *

The alarms were going off.

Sokka knew they would've gone off at some point, but definitely not this soon, especially since he was pretty sure the guard was still in his cell and the rotation would be over an hour from now. There must've been something else going on, but he had no idea exactly what. 

Whatever the case it caused absolute chaos, which was helpful, but with all of the workers running across the halls it was difficult to keep from getting caught. He really should've grabbed the guard's clothes from earlier…

Now he was hiding behind a stack of boxed carts, bending as he looked over the top. There were only about five guards currently in the hallway, if he was fast enough he might've been able to take them, but with his injuries, well it would be difficult even with the weapon he stole from his cell. 

The water tribe teen took a deep breath, getting ready to take a chance before he heard a loud crash towards the end of the dark hallway. Squinting he saw the cause; a guard collapsed on the ground. Without much warning two figures emerged from the corner, one doing some sort of summersault, although it was a bit stiff and the other walking calmly along the corridor, though they seemed to have a limp. 

Despite the obvious injury the two worked quickly, one hitting various guards so fast it was hard to catch as their bodies went limp. The other had stolen a large sword from the earlier guard, cutting down anyone in her path. It took Sokka longer than he would've liked to admit, but eventually he realized just who the two assailants were. 

Mai and Ty Lee.

Although it was hard to tell at first glance, considering just how lifeless the two looked. Mai had always had some sort of lifeless gaze, but now her face was sunken and her clothes were almost rags at this point, dried blood in various places. Ty Lee although a smile was still on her face her eyes were different, something hidden beneath them as she moved, more stiff than he had even seen the teen move.

The guards were all down within minutes. For a minute Sokka hesitated to show himself, considering the pair had been out to get him for so long, but they were on his side now weren't they? 

Eventually, Sokka stood. His legs shaking as he walked out into the now almost empty hallway (if you didn't count the various bodies laying on the ground).

"Are you guys the reason the alarm is going off?" Sokka's voice came out hoarse, but it was clear enough for the two girls to whip their heads towards him, relief filling their faces within seconds.

"Not exactly, come with us, " Mai spoke as if he needed no other information, impersonal but straight to the point.

Ty Lee on the other hand was a different story, "Sokka! We found you. Thank Tui and La, Zuko will be glad to see you,"

"Zuko?!" 

"Yeah! He found us and-"

Mai interrupted, "I hate to interrupt this, but Katara said we don't have much time and I really don't want to stay here,"

Ty Lee only nodded as she sent a small smile towards Mai, "She's right, just follow us. I'm sure we can all talk later,"

Despite the million questions Sokka had swirling through his mind, he nodded; the questions could wait. Zuko and Katara were waiting for him, he couldn't keep them waiting.

_ The trio ran across the hallways, well more so walked as fast as they all could considering the various injuries they all had seemed to have.  _ Ty Lee was stiff, Mai was limping, and Sokka's legs wouldn't stop shaking, but eventually they made it to the deck. At first Sokka had thought guards would be an issue, but the more the trio moved the more clear it became that Ty Lee and Mai had already taken care of most of them, seeing as how many groaning guards they passed on their way.

The sun was bright, almost burning Sokka's eyes, but he couldn't close them. He was too glad to see the sun, an ethereal feeling filling him as he felt the warm sun's rays. The teen had been without sunlight for far too long in his opinion. As much as he loved the sun, it was nothing compared to the sight that he saw on the deck of the ship.

Appa. Katara. Zuko. They all were here, Katara and Zuko looked disheveled, but they were  _ there. They had come to rescue him. _

Before Sokka thought it through he was rushing towards the fire nation prince, his legs shaking as he forced them to run. His arms were around Zuko in an instint, relief filling him as he held onto the boy tight. Maybe he should've considered where they were, or how much time they had to leave, or maybe the fact that Zuko and him weren't anything more than friends technically, but his lips moved without him thinking.

It happened quick, Sokka crashing his lips into Zuko's, feeling the teen's body grow stiff before it relaxed, the other sinking into his touch. 

It was interrupted quickly though as shouts could be heard behind them, Katara yanking on Sokka's shirt as the pair broke away. Zuko's eyes were wide, but they had no time to talk as they all rushed onto Appa, Zuko reaching his hands towards his former friends and helping them onto the flying bison as Sokka pushed Katara forward. The teens were all on the bison in under a minute, watching as the ship grew smaller and smaller.

* * *

It all happened too fast. Suddenly Ty Lee and Mai were with them, obviously not doing well despite their help. Suddenly Katara didn't hate him. And Sokka was safe, obviously in a similar state as the two fire nation girls, but alive and safe, and he had kissed Zuko.

_ He had kissed Zuko. _

Zuko hadn't expected it and even though it was definitely not the time or place for the two to figure out their feelings he had found it difficult to push the boy away, hell he hadn't even pushed him away  _ he had melted.  _ If it was not for Katara pulling Sokka away he wasn't sure he would've even been able to push Sokka away.

They needed to talk, that much was evident. But there were so many other things to talk about and do. They still had a war to win, both Ty Lee and Mai were in bad shape and he still didn't know why they were even on the ship, Sokka's leg wouldn't stop shaking and he looked like absolute death. Had all three of them lost weight? Even though Sokka had only been gone a few days he was unusually boney, Zuko could feel sharp edges digging into him as they embraced. 

All of them had so much they needed to talk about, but with over thirty minutes flying in the sky no one had uttered a word.

It was Zuko who broke the silence, "It was Azula, right? What did you mean by make his fire bender teacher pay?" 

Mai's eyes were closed, her head bent towards the sky, "Yeah, it was all her idea. She figured out that Ty Lee and I were soulmates when we were fighting and decided to use that as research," she paused, opening her eyes as she sighed, "Basically she thought if she tortured Sokka it would ruin you, since you'd be able to feel it all. We were her punching bags in the name of 'research'," her hands went up in quotations on the last word, her frown growing deeper, "She was on the ship for a few days or so before she got bored, I didn't even know Sokka was there,"

Katara spoke next, "We'll be there soon, is there anything I can heal when we get back? For all of you,"

As much as Zuko had struggled to get along with the water tribe girl, it was obvious she had always put others first, not even acknowledging her own emotions just yet.  _ She was waiting until everyone was okay for her to take care of herself. _

_ Maybe she was kinder than he had thought.  _

* * *

Sokka was safe. He was hurt, but he was safe. As much as Katara wanted to break, as much as she wanted to hug her dumb older brother tight, she didn't. Instead she held her emotions in, taking all of the new information in as she monitored his condition, as well as the two disheveled fire nation girls.

It was hard to not hit him for kissing Zuko when they needed to leave. She wanted to scream at him, for being so reckless, but she let it go, especially considering the fact that he had been through a lot in the past few days and Zuko was probably one of the only people who could've made him feel better. 

Still it was idiotic and if she didn't miss him so much she would've smacked the back of his head and lectured him on the way back.

The air was awkward and tense as they all traveled back, which made sense considering she doubted her brother and Zuko had discussed being anything more than friends. Although soulmates it was obvious the two hadn't exactly figured themselves out yet. They slept in the same tent and held hands often, which caused snickers from Aang and Toph, but it was obvious they hadn't discussed doing anything else. Especially with the shock on Zuko's face when her brother had held onto him like he was his lifeline. 

The water bender was glad that Zuko chose to break the silence, the group discussing what to do when they arrived for the rest of the trip. Talking about fractured bones and bruises was better than awkward noiselessness and it definitely was better than thinking about her brother's romantic life.

* * *

It was decided that Ty Lee and Mai were the worst off, so the pair were the first to sit by Katara as they spoke about the plans for the upcoming attack, which Sokka assumed the two girls were now helping in.

That left Sokka with Aang and Toph roping him into a group hug, Zuko even allowing the two to drag him into the hug, a small smile on his face. 

"You look like shit," Toph's voice was confident, despite the fact that she couldn't see just how bad Sokka actually looked.

"Hey! You can't say that-" Sokka paused, his face twisting as he let out a weak laugh, "You can even see me, Toph,"

"I can feel it. In my bones, in my  _ soul _ , you look like shit," The earth bender said with a smug smile, giving him a tight squeeze. 

"I'm hurt, really, I thought you'd miss me," the group broke away from the hug.

"I did dummy, you sound rough though, "   
  
"I've been better," Hey, at least it’s the truth. 

"Is there anything I can do? Are you alright? I mean as alright as you can be considering…" Aang's voice trailed off, his hand scratching his neck nervously. 

"Don't worry Aang, Katara will work her magic,"

"Okay, just let me know, " Aang nodded, his hand leaving his neck.

Zuko hadn't said a word, but Sokka didn't expect him to. Instead the water tribe boy outstretched his hand, grabbing onto the fire bender's hand and squeezing lightly as the group continued to talk. 

As much as they needed to talk it could wait. Right now he was just glad to be back, to hold onto his soulmate's hand. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our boys finally get some sort of communication.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry about the super long wait, but here it is. I finally figured out the layout for this fic, so I'm glad about that. This chapter is kind of short, so sorry in advance, but I hope ya'll like it regardless. <3 As always thank you to anyone who helped with this chapter. <333

No matter how much the kiss circled in Zuko's mind, Sozin's comet took up most of the group's conversations. Which made sense of course, they had a war to win and they were way over their heads already. 

Even without the upcoming day Zuko had never been great at communication, well actually, he sort of was absolutely shit at it. As much as the fire nation prince knew that he and Sokka needed to actually talk, he couldn't get the words out. Nothing had gone forward, nothing had even gone backwards, it was just static. The two still held hands often, still slept in the same tent half the time, and generally enjoyed each other's company, but they hadn't actually  _ talked. _

"What are you and Ty Lee?" the words had left Zuko's mouth with no thought, not even sure himself what he was asking.

Mai raised her eyebrow, but the rest of her face remained unchanged as she glanced towards the rest of the group, "What are we?"

The prince turned his attention towards the separated group, glad that Mai and him had found a small area to themselves, even if it was only for a few minutes, and even if Zuko had practically dragged Mai to the area out of some desperate attempt to at least ease some of his anxiety. 

"Yeah, um," A blush spread across Zuko's cheeks as he rubbed his neck, "Like Azula can't do anything about you two being soulmates now, you both know that you two belong together, and I mean, you know none of us will do anything. So are you two… seeing each other? I don't even know what to call it-"

"Are we in a relationship?" Despite Zuko's concerns Mai looked dumbstruck, only shaking her head before letting out the smallest and dullest laugh that Zuko had ever heard, but it was a laugh coming from her, which was impressive, "Zuko we literally have to defeat your Dad soon and basically save the world and that's what you're thinking about?"

This was a dumb idea. Why did he even ask her, he should've just kept quiet, maybe if he walked away-

Mai interrupted his speeding thoughts, "We decided we don't need to discuss it," the girl shrugged, her face indifferent as she turned her full attention to the fire bender, "We are all so young Zuko and there is already so much we have to focus on. After the war, hopefully Ty Lee and I can fully figure things out. But, for right now all that matters is that we both know we care for each other and plan to spend the rest of our lives together if we can."

"Oh," Zuko didn't know how to respond, of course Mai was right, she always was. It left him speechless.

"Geez, you ask me this Zuko and that's the response I get? Let me guess you and water boy haven't talked about that reckless kiss?"

"Sorry and um, no we haven't talked about it at all,"

"Look, everyone knows that you two will end up together, even the universe. Stress about the day of Sozin's Comet and not that. After that, I'm sure you two can figure it out," Mai gave him a small smile, and despite his earlier anxieties, Zuko felt reassured by his childhood friend’s words. He put away all his thoughts about the kiss, even if he did think about it too often when he could.

* * *

Sokka was the plan man, but all of this planning made him feel like he was drowning in fear and anxiety. He did not doubt any of their ablitlies, but the more he thought about what they were going to do the more it seemed  _ real _ and extremely fucking dangerous.

There were too many variables, too many possibilities and places they all needed to be. They needed to split up, which was terrifying because Zuko was not even going to be near him.  _ What if he never saw him again? What if his sister didn't come back either? What would he do? _

"Okay, so let's go over this one more time," Sokka gestured with a small twing he had found only minutes prior, drawing toddler level illustrations of the group as he spoke, "We know that Ozai plans to destroy Ba Sing Se, so Suki, Ty Lee, Toph, and me will be in charge of stopping the airships. Aang will be in charge of taking on Ozai," Aang frowned, but Sokka continued, "Lastly, Zuko, Katara, and Mai will be in charge of Azula. We can't have soulmates fight together with her, considering what happened the last time. All three of you would be our best bet I think though," Sokka threw down his stick, glancing at the group, "Any objections? Questions?"

No one objected, but they all looked like they would be marching to their deaths. Which really did not ease Sokka's anxiety at all. Even Mai had a slight edge to her usually bored face.

That is until Toph spoke, wiggling her toes, "I'm going to need a huge feast after this, like I expect a whole dinner party. I want a cake so big that I have to step on it to see how big it is. That has to be there. Remember that, plan man," She shot a cocky grin at him. 

The tension lifted, laughter filled the air instead of the thick fog of anxiety that had been there minutes prior. It wasn't even that funny, but they had needed it.

"Ok, next on our plan then; dinner with cake," Sokka grabbed the stick once again, drawing a lopsided cake into the sand.

* * *

_ Sozin's Comet was tomorrow. _

_ Tomorrow. _

_ Tomorrow he could die. _

_ Tomorrow all of his friends that he had only recently made could die. _

_ Sokka could die. _

It was hard to sleep when the next day Zuko could lose everything. He stared at the musty ceiling of the dark green tent, feeling Sokka toss and turn beside him. Everyone had decided to go to sleep hours ago, yet the pair couldn't seem to sleep at all. No one could really, but they all could pretend couldn't they?

Sokka must've given up on finding a position that would magically make him sleep because the teen eventually settled on just laying on his back, staring at a frayed corner in the tent.

Zuko jumped when Sokka spoke with no warning, "We could die,"

A lump formed in Zuko's throat, "We could."

"I know that I should be worried, —and I am, but I really just want to be a normal teenager for once," Sokka turned towards Zuko, propping up his elbow for support as he rested his head on his hand, "Normal teenagers talk about it when they kiss someone or at least they don't just ignore it like we did. I think. I'm not sure, I mean, I've spent all my life either with my sister, who is already crazy in her own way and a bender. Or I've spent it preparing for a war or helping Aang, or-" 

"Most people talk about it when they do randomly kiss someone, yeah. Don't worry, I've been around enough of the noble kids," Zuko interrupted, knowing that Sokka was only rambling due to his nerves.

"Okay, great, then yeah let's talk about that," Sokka took a deep breath and Zuko couldn't tell if the tingling in his stomach was from him or the boy next to him. Maybe both? "I do want to say I'm sorry for doing that so randomly, without your permission, when we literally had to run for our lives,"

"I liked it," Zuko did not even realize he said the words out loud until he turned to face the other, seeing the red on his cheeks as he avoided Zuko's gaze.

"Um, I mean, it's fine," Zuko quickly corrected, suddenly getting beat by his sister seemed to be justified. 

"I liked it too," Sokka finally locked his eyes on Zuko's, "I'd like to do that again sometime."

Now it was Zuko's turn to have his cheeks flush, suddenly finding it difficult to look the other in the eye, "Me too, but maybe not when we are running for our lives next time?"

Silence filled the tent, staying that way for a few moments before Sokka finally spoke, "Where do we go from here? We have to save the world tomorrow, otherwise I'd ask you out on a date or something,"

The fire bender's heart sped up, taking a deep breath before he grabbed onto Sokka's free hand, squeezing gently, "Take me to a play that doesn't suck, that's my only request,"

"Done, I'll even look into every single one I see," Sokka gives his hand a small squeeze, and his heart flutters just a little bit. 

A small smile crept onto Zuko's features, "After tomorrow we can work everything out, but I know I can't imagine a life without you." He spoke softly, but the intense emotion, the realness of the statement was felt in the whole tent.

Was that too much? The two were soulmates sure, but it's not like they ever went into details about how they actually felt about each other. Zuko almost apologized, but Sokka spoke first.

"I can't imagine my life without you either,"


End file.
